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GUILTY BONDS 


Wl/ 

WILLIAM ^ _^KUX 

AUTHOR OF “ZORAIDA,” “ THR GREAT WAR IN ENGLAND 
IN 1897,” “STRANGE TAEES OF A NIHILIST.” 


n 


FEB 5 1B9«! 


NEW YORK 

R. F. FKNNO & COMPANY 

1 12 Fifth Avenue 






t 


Copyright, 1895 
R. F. FFNNO & COMPANY 


\ 


Guilty Bonds 


I 


CONTENTS 


CHAP. PACK 

I. The Mystery of Bedford Place 9 

II. Sealed Lips 15 

III. What the World Said 24 

IV. “Startling Revelations ” 35 

V. A Suspicions 42 

VI. Vera Seroff 46 

VII. A Secret Tie 53 

VIII. Post-haste across Europe 64 

IX. In the Izak Platz 72 

X. The Spider’s Web 80 

XI. The Cell belo-w the River 87 

XII. Subterranean Drama 94 . 

XIII. Graven on the Wall 104 

XIV. En Route for the Mines no 

XV. An Ominous Incident 118 

XVI. Facing the Inevitable 126 

XVII. The Terrace, Richmond 132 

XVIII. Under the Stars 141 

XIX. False! 152 

XX. A Mystery Still 161 

XXL Storms of Fate 171 

XXII. The Verge of a Discovery 181 

XXIII. The Dead Woman’s Picture 194 

XXIV. Doubts and Fears. . 203 


4 


CONTENTS, 


CHAP. PAGE. 

XXV. A Midnight Search 212 

XXVI. Queer Straits 222 

XXVII. A Guiltless Crime 231 

XXVIII. The Clique 240 

XXIX. Monsieur’s Opinion 247 

XXX. The Eleventh Hour 253 

XXXI. By Whose Hand ? 263 

XXXH. Rays of Hope 271 

XXXHI. Vera’s Secret 275 

XXXIV. A Strange Disclosure 286 

XXXV. The Vantage-Ground of Truth 296 

Conclusion 302 


TO 

•JKaallace Ibuggett 

THE AUTHOR DEDICATES THIS STORY 


IN SINCERE ACKNOWLEDGMENT 
OF A LITERARY DEBT. 






GUILTY BONDS 


CHAPTER L 

THE MYSTERY OF BEDFORD PLACE. 

**CoME, have another hand, Burgoyne.” 

“I’ll have my revenge to-morrow, old fellow,” I 
replied. 

“Why not to-night ? ” 

“It’s past two, and I’ve a long walk home, 
remember. ” 

“ Very well ; as you wish.” 

My friend, Robert Nugent, a journalist, was 
young man, tall and dark, twenty-seven at the out- 
side, with a pleasant, smiling face. His wavy hair, 
worn rather long, and negligence of attire gave him 
a dash of the genial good-for-nothing. 

It was in the card-r6om of that Bohemian — but, 
alas, now defunct — institution, the Junior Garrick 
Club, where we had been indulging in a friendly 


lO 


GUILTY BONDS. 


hand. .Having finished our game, we ordered some 
refreshment, and seated ourselves upon the balcony- 
on Adelphi Terrace, smoking our last cigarettes, and 
watching the ripple of the stream, the broken reflec- 
tion of the stars, and many lights that lined the 
Thames. All was dark in the houses on the opposite 
shore ; the summer wind whispered in the leafy 
boughs on the Embankment, and a faint cold gray in 
the east showed that night was on the edge of morn. 

For some time we sat chatting, until Big Ben 
boomed forth three o’clock ; then we rose, and 
wishing good-night to the men who were still play- 
ing, sought our hats and left the club. 

We walked together as far as Danes’ Inn, where 
we parted, Nugent entering the Inn, while I con- 
tinued my homeward walk alone. From the Strand 
to Torrington Square is a considerable distance ; but 
I did not feel inclined for sleep, and sauntered along 
in the steely light, enjoying the silence and solitude 
of the deserted streets, absorbed in my own thoughts. 

What need I say about myself.? Some envied me, 
I knew, for I chanced to be the only son of a wealthy 
man who had died a few months before, leaving me 
a handsome fortune, together with a stately old 
mansion in Northamptonshire. In the choice of a 
profession I had not altogether pleased my father, 
the result being that the old gentleman was some- 
what niggardly regarding my allowance, and in con- 


GUILTY BONDS. 


II 


sequence of this I had lived a devil-may-care Bohe- 
mian life, earning a moderate living by my pen. 
But upon my father’s death a change came, and now, 
instead of a hand-to-mouth existence, I found myself 
with an income which far exceeded my wildest 
expectations. This sudden affluence might have 
turned the head of many a man, but it made very 
little difference to me. My friends, for the most 
part struggling artists and literary men, congratu- 
lated me upon my good fortune, probably believing 
that now I was rich I should cut them. They were 
mistaken ; I continued to live pretty much as before, 
though I gave up literary work and devoted more 
time to pleasure. 

Dreamily pondering over what I should do in the 
future, and heedless of where my footsteps led me, 
I had crossed Holborn arid was passing along Bed- 
ford Place, Bloomsbury, before I was aroused from 
my reverie. 

At that moment I was passing a rather large, 
handsome-looking house, of a character somewhat 
superior to its neighbors, inasmuch as its outward 
appearance had an air of wealth and prosperity. 
The other houses were in darkness, but the drawing- 
room of this particular one was brilliantly lit, the 
window being almost on a level with the pave- 
ment. 

A faint agonized cry caused me to pause in my 


12 


GUILTY BONDS. 


walk. For some moments I stood before the gilt- 
topped railings listening, but no other sound greeted 
my ears. 

My idle, reflective mood suddenly fled. Recalled 
from it by the startling distinctness of the appeal — 
half-moan, half-scream, with its intonation of anguish 
— an overwhelming curiosity possessed me. 

An ominous sound : what could it mean ? 

Impelled by an involuntary inquisitiveness I re- 
solved to ascertain, if possible, the cause of this 
midnight cry of distress. 

The gate leading to the front door was open. I 
crept inside and advanced cautiously. 

Upon tiptoe I placed my face close to the glass 
of the window. At first my expectations seemed 
doomed, but to my intense joy I found a small 
aperture between the blind and window-sash through 
which a glimpse of the interior could be obtained. 

My eager eyes fell upon a scene which caused me 
to start back with a scarcely repressed ejaculation of 
horfor and surprise ! 

A tragedy had been enacted ! 

Stretched at full length upon the carpet was the 
form of a woman in a white flimsy evening dress, 
the breast of which bore a large crimson stain — the 
stain of blood ! 

Utterly unable to make up my mind how to act, I 
stood rooted to the spot. A violent gust of wind 


GUILTY BONDS. 


13 


swept down the street, causing the lights in the 
lamps to flicker, and the branches of the stunted 
trees to groan beneath its power. 

Just then the front door opened and closed noise- 
lessly, and as I drew back into the shadow a man 
passed me so closely thit I could touch him ; and 
after glancing anxiously up and down the street, 
walked hurriedly away. 

As he brushed past, the light from a neighbor- 
ing street-lamp disclosed the face of a young and 
rather handsome man, with dark eyes and carefully 
waxed mustache — a face it was impossible to mis- 
take. 

I hesitated a few seconds whether I should give 
the alarm and follow him. The echo of his retreat- 
ing footsteps brought me to my senses, and I started 
off after the fugitive. 

As soon as he heard my footsteps behind him, 
however, he quickened his pace. I had gained 
on him until he was within a hundred yards or so, 
when he suddenly turned half-fearfully around, and 
started running as fast as his legs could carry him. 

I called upon him to stop, but he took no heed. 
We were soon in Russell Square, and, crossing it, 
turned the corner at the Alexandra Hospital and 
continued along Guilford Street into Gray's Inn 
Road. I was a fairly good runner, yet though I 
exerted every muscle in my endeavors to catch the 


GUILTY BONDS. 


T4 

man, nevertheless he gradually increased the dis* 
tance between us. 

It was an exciting chase. If I could only meet 
a policeman no doubt we might run him to earth 
by our combined efforts ; but aftei: the lapse of five 
minutes, without meeting f)ne of the guardians of 
the public peace, the mysterious man dived into 
some intricate turnings, with which he was evi- 
dently too well acquainted, and I was compelled to 
relinquish the pursuit. 

He had escapeJ 1 
V 


GUILTY BONDS, 


*s 


CHAPTER II. 

SEALED LIPS. 

With some difficulty I at last found my way back 
to the house, but all was quiet, and the passer-by 
would little dream of the terrible tragedy that had 
taken place within. I had no time for reflection, 
however, for I heard the well-known creaking foot- 
step, and saw the flashing of a distant bull’s-eye, 
betokening the arrival of a policeman from the 
opposite direction. 

■n' ^ 

Hastening to meet the constable, with edited 
gesture and confused accents, I told him of my hor- 
rible discovery. At first the man seemed inclined 
to disbelieve it, but seeing I was in earnest, accom- 
panied me to the house, and peeped in at the win- 
dow as directed. 

He started when his gaze fell upon the prostrate 
woman. 

Do you know who lives ^ere? ” he asked. 

'‘No. Haven’t I told you I’m an utter stranger ? ” 
I replied. 


i6 


GUILTY BONDS. 


As I spoke he ran up the short flight of stone 
steps and pulled the large brass knob beside the 
door. 

Clear and distinct the deep-toned bell clanged out 
somewhere in the regions at the rear, but there was 
no response. 

As suddenly as it had risen the wind sank ; the 
streets were silent, the houses gloomy as rows of 
sepulchres tenanted only by the departed ; and as 
thei^iday broke, cold and gray, light fleecy clouds 
gathered over the waning moon. 

Twice the constable tugged at the bell in his 
efforts to awaken the inmates of the house, but all 
was still, save for the bark of a distant dog. Al- 
though we both strained our ears, no sounds of life 
were apparent within. 

“Shall I go round to the station for help } I can 
find it if you will direct me,” I said to the man. 

“No; you stay 'ere. There's no necessity,'' 
replied he gruffly. “I’ll soon call my mates,'' and 
applying his whistle to his lips, he blew a series of 
shrill calls, which were immediately answered by 
others. 

Ten minutes later three policemen had arrived, 
and, finding there was no entrance from the rear, 
had burst open the door. 

The houses adjoining were both empty, so no 
neighbors were awakened by the noise. 


GUILTY BONDS. 


17 


We entered undisturbed. 

From the spacious hall several doors opened right 
and left ; while immediately opposite was a broad 
staircase. 

With but a hasty glance around we passed to a 
door which stood open, and from which a flood of 
light was issuing. There our eyes encountered a 
terrible sight. 

Lying on her back upon the carpet, with her arms 
outstretched above her head, was a tall and iki- 
deniably beautiful woman of about thirty years of 
age. Her wealth of fair hair had become unfastened, 
and fell in disorder about her bare shoulders. Her 
lips were still apart, as if in her last moments she 
had uttered a cry, and her clear blue eyes, wide 
open, had in them a stony stare — that of death. 

Attired in an elegant evening dress of soft white 
silk, her low bodice revealed the fatal wound in her 
breast from which the blood slowly oozed, forming 
a dark crimson pool upon the carpet. Upon her 
wrist was a splendid diamond bracelet of an un- 
common pattern, for it wms shaped to represent a 
double-headed snake, and under the gaslight the 
gems danced and gleamed with a thousand fires. 

The appearance of the murdered woman was 
hideous enough in itself, but something else we 
saw startled us, and sent an increased thrill of horror 

through our nerves. 

2 


GUILTY BONDS. 


We were awe-struck by the sight of it, yet there 
was nothing extraordinarily revolting — merely a 
half sheet of note-paper upon which was a large 
red seal of a peculiar character, fastened to the breast 
of the dress. 

“Good God ! The Seal ! ” 

It was the ejaculation of one of the constables as 
he knelt and unpinned the paper. 

Breathlessly, we bent over the piece of paper and 
closely examined it, for we were all aware of the 
unparalleled and inexplicable mysteries with which 
not only London but the whole world was ring- 
ing. 

It had an awful significance. 

That its exact dimensions and strange hiero- 
glyphics may be the more readily conceived, I repro- 
duce it here : — 



The horrible mystery connected with the fatal 
device flashed vividly across my mind in an instant, 
as, with a sickly, giddy feeling in my head, my 


GUILTY BONDS. 


19 


heart beating violently, and my hands trembling 
as if palsied, I examined it. What did it mean ? I 
wondered in a dazed fashion, for my thoughts 
seemed in a whirl of maddening velocity. There 
was no power in my mind to grasp the meaning of 
the hideous fact at first, and only a stupefied, dull 
sense of evil filled my soul. 

My mental vision grew gradually clearer after a 
few moments ; as if slowly awakening from a fright- 
ful dream, I drew myself together, trying to grasp 
the full interpretation of the mysterious symbol. 

Within the past few months there had been no 
fewer than six murders in different countries, and 
in every case a piece of paper with a seal identical 
with the one we had just discovered had been found 
pinned upon the breast of the victim ; yet in no in- 
stance had there been a clue to the murderer, though 
all the vigilance of the police, both at Scotland Yard 
and elsewhere, had been directed towards the eluci- 
dation of the mystery. 

We stood aghast and pale, for the discovery had 
completely dumbfounded us. 

There had been something so uncanny, almost 
supernatural, about the six other crimes, which so 
closely followed each other, that for the moment 
we were quite unnerved at this latest essay of the 
unrevealed assassin. 

A momentary glance sufficed to convince the con- 


20 


GUILTY BONDS. 


stables that a brutal murder had been committed, 
and after a few moments’ hesitation two of their 
number hurried out — one to fetch the divisional 
surgeon, the other to report to the inspector on duty 
at the station. 

The two constables remaining gently lifted the 
corpse, and placing it upon a low lounge near, 
began to examine the apartment. It was a luxuri- 
ously-furnished drawing-room, and the gas, which 
burned in crimson glass, threw a soft harmonious 
light over the furniture and hangings, which were 
composed of pale blue satin ; and upon the costly 
nick-nacks which plainly showed the owner w^as 
possessed of artistic tastes and refinement. A room, 
in fact, which bore the unmistakable traces of the 
daily presence of a woman of wealth and culture. 

Glancing round, I could' see that some of the 
articles were of great value. The pictures were for 
the most part rare, the quaint old Dresden and 
Sevres upon the brackets, and the ivory carvings, 
were all curiosities of no ordinary character, while 
upon the mantelshelf stood a French clock, the tiny 
peal of silver bells of which chimed merrily, even 
as I looked. 

Presently the officers concluded their examina- 
tion of the room, and taking one of the candles 
from the piano, proceeded upstairs to search the 
house. 


GUILTY BONDS. 


21 


Accompanying them, I, an unwilling witness of 
this midnight tragedy, found the whole of the rooms 
furnished in elegant taste, no expense having been 
spared to make them the acme of comfort and lux- 
ury. Every nook and corner was searched, without 
success, so we returned again to the drawing-room. 

To our surprise we found the body had moved 
slightly from the position in which we had placed 
it. The woman’s bloodless face seemed gradually 
to assume the faintest flush, her eyelids quivered, 
and in a strange, low whisper she uttered a word 
which to us was unintelligible. 

Again she articulated it with evident difficulty ; 
then a convulsive shudder shook her frame, her 
breast heaved, and her features again grew pale and 
rigid. 

We stood watching her for a moment. One of 
the constables placed his hand upon her breast, but 
withdrew it, saying, ^*It’s all over with her, poor 
thing ; I’m afraid the doctor won’t be able to do her 
any good.” 

And we sat down to await the arrival of the in- 
spector and surgeon, conversing only in low whis- 
pers. 

A few minutes had elapsed, when they entered. 

The doctor, as soon as he saw her, shook his head, 
saying, “Dead, poor woman ! Ah ! stabbed to the 
heart, I see.” 


22 


GUILTY BONDS. 


“Murder, evidently,” exclaimed the inspector, 
glancing round ; then turning to the constables, he 
asked, “Have you searched the house ? ” 

“Yes, sir,” they replied. 

“ Found anything } ” 

“This, we found in the hall,” replied one of the 
men, taking a small Indian dagger from a side-table, 
“and this paper was pinned upon her dress.” 

The production of the seal caused both the inspec- 
tor and doctor to start in surprise, and the former, 
after examining it, placed it carefully in his pocket- 
book. 

Taking the knife in his hand, the inspector ex- 
amined it minutely. It was stained with blood — 
evidently the weapon with which the murderer had 
dealt the fatal blow. 

The doctor also looked at it, and wiping the blood 
from the victim’s breast, gazed upon the wound, 
saying, “Yes, that’s the knife, without a doubt ; but 
who did it is the question.” 

“Who’s this gentleman.?” asked the officer, jerk- 
ing his thumb towards me. 

“Gentleman who informed us, sir.” 

“Do you know who lives here.?” he asked, 
sharply, turning to me. 

“No, I do not. I am quite a stranger; in fact, I 
have never been in this street before in my life.” 

Hum ! ” he grunted, in a rather suspicious 


GUILTY BONDS. 


23 

manner. “And how came you to know anything 
about the affair ’’ 

“I chanced to be passing at the time, and my 
attention was attracted by a scream. I found a 
space between the blind and the window, and my 
curiosity being aroused, I looked in and saw the 
woman had been murdered.” 

“ Is that all you know ? ” he asked. 

“That’s all.” 

“Well, you won’t mind just stepping round to the 
station for a few minutes, will you .? Then you can 
give us your version of the matter.” 

“Oh, certainly I will, with pleasure,” I replied. 

The inspector having given some instructions 
to his men, the body of the murdered woman was 
covered with a table-cloth, and we went out leaving 
two constables in charge of the premises. 

Dawn was spreading now ; the stars had dis- 
appeared, and there were some saffron tints in the 
east, heralding the sun’s coming. At the corner 
of Montague Street the doctor wished us “good- 
morning,” and strode away in an opposite direc- 
tion, scarcely well pleased at being aroused from 
his bed and called out to witness so unpleasant a 
sight. 


24 


GUILTY BONDS. 


CHAPTER III. 

WHAT THE WORLD SAID. 

A QUARTER of an hour later I was in the inspector's 
office at Tottenham Court Road Police Station, relat- 
ing to him all I knew of the horrible discovery. 

“You saw a man come out, you say.? Are you 
certain of this?" the inspector asked, after I had 
concluded my story. 

“Quite ; and, what’s more, I saw his face.” 

“Would you know him again?” he inquired, 
eyeing me keenly. 

“Certainly, I should.” 

“Well, when you saw him, what did you do?” 

“ I followed him. We ran for nearly five minutes 
without meeting a constable, and I subsequently 
lost sight of him in Gray’s Inn Road.” 

“For five minutes without meeting one of our 
men ? ” repeated the inspector, dubiously. 

“Yes. I shouted, but nobody came to my 
assistance,” I replied, for I had not failed to notice 
the suspicion with which he regarded me. 

The inspector’s brows contracted slightly as he 


GUILTY BONDS. 


25 

took a slate from his desk, saying, “Give me his 
description as accurately as possible, please/" 

I did so, and he 'wrote at my dictation. As soon 
as he had finished, he handed the slate to a sergeant, 
who at once went to the row of telegraph instru- 
ments and transmitted the description of the mur- 
derer to all the stations in the Metropolitan Police 
District. 

“And this was upon the body when you saw 
it ? exclaimed the officer, smoothing out the crum- 
pled piece of paper before placing it upon the desk 
in front of him. 

I nodded an affirmative, and proceeded to describe 
the position of the paper as pinned upon the breast. 

“ Plum ! well, I think that’s all,’" said he, when I 
had finished. “You say you live in Torrington 
Square. Ah ! I have the number. And you spent 
the evening at the Junior Garrick Club — was that 
so.?’" 

“Yes."" 

“ At the inquest we shall want you as a witness ; 
but you will get warning in due course. Good- 
morning.” 

I left the station, and trudged homeward, full of 
thoughts of the horrible scene of which I had been 
an involuntary spectator. 

Truly the night had been an eventful one. 

The discovery had been made too late for the first 


26 


CUIL TY BONDS. 


editions of the morning- papers, but those published 
on the following evening gave accounts of the 
tragedy, headed “Another Mysterious Murder: 
The Mystic Seal again,” in which the details of 
the crime were most graphically told, the facts ex- 
aggerated, and plenty of fiction infused ; for that 
style known as the New Journalism seems to have 
been invented for the purpose of satisfying the 
craving for sensational reading. 

During the day I was pestered with interviewers. 
Several enterprising reporters, who saw a chance of 
making an interesting column of “copy” out of 
me, sent up their cards, and to them I granted an 
audience. Following these came two detectives 
from the Criminal Investigation Department, who 
also wished for a description of my night's advent- 
ure. 

This I gave willingly, yet to my astonishment and 
annoyance I found, -when I went down to the club 
in the evening, that the police had been making in- 
quiries of the servants as to what time I left on the 
previous night, besides endeavoring to learn various 
other particulars. 

I, Frank Burgoyne, was evidently suspected of 
the crime ! 

There had been six murders, all curious, unex- 
plained mysteries, which had formed the chief topic 
of conversation and comment in the newspapers for 


GUILTY BONDS. 


27 


the past few weeks. In each there appeared an 
utter absence of motive, which made the enigma 
doubly puzzling ; and though the murderer had 
sought his victims from ever rank of society, the 
same seal — evidently impressed by the same hand 
— had been found pinned upon the breast of the 
corpses. 

Premeditated the crimes undoubtedly were, and 
accomplished by one to whom murder was an art, 
for in not a single instance was there the slightest 
clue to his identity^ though some were committed in 
broad daylight. The modus operandi appeared to be 
similar in every case, and with the exception of one 
victim, who had been shot, the remaining five had 
all been stabbed to the heart by a stiletto, which the 
murderer usually carried away with him. 

Various were the theories advanced as to the 
motives for these appalling deeds. 

Some journals suggested that the murderer was 
a maniac, whose insatiable thirst for blood was 
controlled by the moon’s changes. This appeared 
plausible enough to some, but others asked how, if 
he were a lunatic, did he continue so effectually to 
conceal himself. These were told there was method 
in madness, and that in all probability the mur- 
derer was insane whilst committing the crimes, and 
immediately afterwards, on gaining his right senses, 
he remembered nothing of the fearful deeds. 


28 


GUILTY BONDS. 


Such hypotheses, and others of a far wilder 
character, were daily talk, not only throughout the 
Kingdom, but in all the Continental capitals, and in 
America. Although several heavy rewards had 
been offered for the apprehension of the defender, 
and a free pardon to any accomplice, all efforts to 
discover him were futile. The shrewdest detectives 
acknowledged themselves utterly baffled. 

The most inexplicable part of the mystery was 
the fact that the Crimes were not confined to one 
city, or even to one country, but had been com- 
mitted at places at great distances from one another. 
This plainly showed that the murderer travelled with 
almost miraculous rapidity. 

Very little sensation was created by the first dis- 
covery, although it was regarded as a mysterious 
affair. It occurred in New York, where a celebrated 
financier, George M. Sheward, was discovered one 
day in his private office, stabbed to the heart. 
Here the fatal seal first made its appearance. At 
the time the New York police thought little of the 
fact, and the finding of the symbol was not made 
public until subsequently, when other crimes had 
taken place, and the same emblem was found. 

From inquiries, it appeared that the deceased 
arrived at Wall Street, as usual, at ten o’clock in 
the morning, retiring into his room, which was 
only separated from that of his clerk’s by a short 


GUILTY BONDS. 


29 


passage, some ten feet in length. He remained in 
his room an hour, interviewing several clients and 
attending to his correspondence. His manager had 
occasion to consult him shortly after eleven, when 
on entering the room he was horrified at finding him 
dead in his chair. Upon the blotting-pad before him 
lay the paper whereon was the seal. 

The persons who had called to see the murdered 
man were so numerous that neither of the clerks 
could tell who had been the last to visit their master, 
yet it was certain that the murderer, whoever he 
was, had passed through the public office to get to 
the principal’s room. 

As the deceased gentleman had a world-wide 
reputation, the fact of his sudden death from some 
unknown assassin was speedily carried to the ends 
of the civilized globe, or, at all events, to the great 
centres where his financial influence was felt. He 
was a quiet, reserved man, but had many friends, 
for his well-known benevolence of disposition, com- 
bined with his immense wealth, had acquired for 
him a celebrity in more circles than one. 

The New York police, aided by the powerful 
agency of the Press, which in America takes a 
peculiar pride in the business of the detection of 
crime, gave all its energies to the unravelling of the 
mystery ; but their efforts, alas ! were in vain. 
Before a fortnight had passed, news was received 


GUILTY BONDS. 


30 

from Vienna that Herr Scherb, a wealthy professor, 
a man of great scientific attainments, had been 
stabbed in a restaurant at mid-day. 

It appeared that a waiter, on approaching a table 
at which Herr Scherb was sitting, was terrified to 
observe that he was quite dead. The cause of his 
sudden demise was a glittering dagger, even then 
firmly fixed in the breast. On this being removed, 
it was discovered that a piece of paper bearing the 
seal had been fastened to the handle. 

With trembling fingers and blanched faces the 
spectators unfolded it, and tried to decipher the 
hieroglyphics. It was not until the discovery of 
this seal had gained publicity that the New York 
police admitted finding one that was identical. 

This was considered a very curious circumstance 
and was freely commented upon by various London 
and provincial newspapers, some giving a woodcut 
of what purported to be a representation of the 
mysterious characters upon the seal. Considerable 
excitement was caused thereby, and numbers of 
antiquarians and others at once set about trying to 
solve its meaning ; but although editors were flooded 
with correspondence from those who professed to 
have found an elucidation, it remained as enigmatical 
as ever. 

Just as the excitement was abating there came 
information of a third tragedy. This time a young 


GUILTY BONDS. 


31 


French actress, Mile. Voiturit, who was premiere 
danseuse at the Eden Theatre in Paris, was dis- 
covered late one evening in the Kalverstraat at 
Amsterdam, dying from the effects of a knife-wound 
in the breast. 

There were dozens of persons passing and repassing 
in the street at the time of the occurrence, neverthe- 
less, so swiftly and surely was the blow dealt and 
the seal attached, that before a crowd had assembled, 
the unfortunate young artiste had expired. 

This created little less than a panic. 

By the existence of the seals — each of which cor- 
responded in every detail with the others — the fact 
was proved that the murders, if not committed by 
the same hand, were within the knowledge of the 
same person. This, of course, was a peculiar 
element in the case, and not a little speculation was 
indulged in as to what was the chief motive leading 
to the commission of crimes so outrageous. 

The next dastardly affair caused a thrill of amaze- 
ment and horror through the whole of Europe. 

Mr. Joseph Glossop, member of the House of 
Commons, and one of Society’s shining lights, had 
been found dead in bed at his house in Mount Street, 
Grosvenor Square, in most curious circumstances. 
True, the deceased had met with his death much in 
the same manner as the three previous victims, and 
the seal was present in exactly the same form, yet 


GUILTY BONDS. 


32 

the window of the room was securely fastened, and 
the door locked. 

This catastrophe caused the hearts of the three 
great capitals to throb with fear and indignation and 
the efforts of the police were redoubled. The same 
result — or lack of result — followed all their endeav- 
ors, however, and again nothing was discovered of 
the assassin who so ruthlessly took the lives of his 
unoffending fellow-men. 

The police were utterly powerless, for the mar- 
vellous, almost superhuman, swiftness with which 
the fell deeds were accomplished, and the manner in 
which the murderer gained access to his victims, 
were two points which were entirely incomprehen- 
sible. 

But while this situation was bad enough, it was 
nothing when compared with the complete paralysis 
which took possession of the entire population when, 
a few weeks later, the work of the same dreadful 
hand was observed, this time at Zurich, where Ma- 
dame Daburon< — a celebrated authoress, whose 
works, principally on political questions, and of a 
Socialistic tendency, had attracted a great deal of 
attention — was found lying in the bottom of a 
pleasure boat drifting upon the Lake. 

The discovery was made by a party of tourists 
who were out sailing, and their dismay may be 
readily imagined when they found the unfortunate 


GUILTY BONDS. 


33 

woman had been shot in the breast, and the seal 
placed upon her. 

There were neither oars nor rudder to the boat, 
yet from the presence of blood it was plain that the 
shot was fired after the murdered woman had em- 
barked, and it was more than probable that the 
assassin, before escaping, threw both oars and rudder 
overboard. How he landed was a mystery. 

Hardly had the news of this latest crime reached 
London, when the sensation was increased by the 
report that another person had been discovered in 
the metropolis with the seal upon him. 

In a few hours this statement was confirmed. 

It transpired that on the afternoon following the 
discovery in Switzerland some children who were 
at play in Upper Street, Islington, noticed blood 
trickling from under the door of a pawnbroker’s 
shop occupied by Mr. Isaac Solomons. The police 
were called ; with difficulty the door was forced. 
Solomons was found face downwards in the pas- 
sage, with a fearful gash in his throat, and on lift- 
ing the body, the seal was seen pinned upon him. 

The seventh of this remarkable series was the 
Mystery of Bedford Place. 

The Comet — most sensational of evening news- 
papers — upon the staff of which was my friend Bob 
Nugent, appeared with what it assured its readers 
was a portrait of the murdered woman, and in its 


34 


GUILTY BONDS. 


comments upon the continuation of the mysterious 
crimes severely criticised our police system, asking 
what was the use of a Commissioner, of detectives, 
of a police force at all, if crimes could be committed 
with impunity in our very midst. 

The murderer apparently treated the vigilance of 
the combined detective force of Europe with the ut- 
most indifference, and such an attitude was alarm- 
ing, for, as the latter acknowledged themselves de- 
feated, there was no telling where this wholesale 
butchery would end ! 

That there was a motive for it all no one doubted, 
though it was a problem none could solve. 

What was to be done demanded the public ; a 
question on which the newspapers were skilfully 
silent. 

Questions were asked in the House, but the 
reply was that all that could be done had been 
done. 

The population were to be coolly assassinated, 
while the apathetic authorities made no secret of 
their incompetency, and treated it with unconcern. 

The excitement rose to fever heat. 


GUILTY BONDS. 


35 


CHAPTER IV. 

* ' STARTLING REVELATIONS. ” 

The coroner held his inquiry at a neighboring 
tavern two days after the murder, but the investi- 
gations, instead of throwing any light upon the 
mystery, only increased it. 

After the jury had formally viewed the body, the 
coroner, addressing the inspector in charge of the 
case, said, — 

‘‘We will take evidence of identification first.” 

“We have none, sir, up to the present,” replied 
the officer gravely. 

The jury looked at one another in dismay. 

“What!” exclaimed the coroner. “Have you 
not discovered who the lady is .? ” 

“No, sir. The only evidence we can procure is 
that of an estate agent by whom the house was let 
to deceased.” 

“Call him.” 

-The oath having been administered to the wit- 
ness, a man named Stevenson, he proceeded to 


GUILTY BONDS. 


36 

give his evidence, from which it appeared that he 
was an agent carrying on business in Gower Street. 
A few months previous he was entrusted with the 
house in Bedford Place to let furnished, the family 
having gone abroad. A month ago the deceased 
called upon him, and after viewing the premises, 
consented to take them, paying six months’ rent 
in advance, and giving her name as Mrs. Ingle- 
wood. She was undoubtedly a lady of means, for 
she kept two servants and rode out daily in a 
brougham hired from a neighboring livery stable. 

The most unaccountable feature of the case, how- 
ever, was that neither of these servants were in the 
house at the time of the murder, nor had they since 
returned. The police had been unable to discover 
any one else who knew the murdered woman, or 
could give any particulars regarding her. 

The next witness was myself, and my depositions 
were rather more satisfactory. I related my ex- 
perience on the fatal night, and how I had dis- 
covered the crime. Then I was submitted to a 
severe cross-examination by the jury regarding the 
appearance of the man who left the house imme- 
diately afterwards. 

The other evidence adduced was purely formal : 
that of the divisional surgeon, who certified the 
cause of death was a knife-wound in the heart, and 
of the constable who came to my assistance. The 


GUILTY BONDS. 


37 


latter produced the blood-smeared paper with its 
cabalistic seal, as to which much curiosity was 
evinced by the jury, it being handed round and 
minutely examined. 

The inquest, after lasting several hours, was 
ultimately adjourned for a week, in order that the 
police might make further inquiries and bring the 
necessary evidence of identification. 

To this end advertisements were inserted in the 
leading newspapers, giving a description of the 
latest victim, with the request that persons acquaint- 
ed with her would communicate at once with any 
police station in the metropolitan district. 

This mystery in which the murdered woman was 
enveloped added to the excitement prevalent. Not- 
withstanding all the efforts of the Criminal Investi- 
gation Department, the coroner was informed, when 
he resumed his inquiry on the following week, that 
no further light could be thrown upon her identity. 
It seemed that the mysterious Mrs. Inglewood was 
an utter stranger and entirely friendless, although 
the police were bound to admit there was something 
suspicious in the continued absence and strict silence 
of the servants. Had she any friends, one or other 
must have come forward, for the Press had carried 
the details of the tragedy to the most remote corners 
of the Kingdom. 

No further statements being forthcoming, thejury, 


38 


GUIL TV BONDS. 


after a long deliberation, returned the same verdict 
as had been recorded upon the other mysterious 
deaths, that of “Wilful murder by some person or 
persons unknown.” 

Thus ended the seventh murder, with all its jour- 
nalistic embellishments ; and the public, who looked 
for ‘ ‘ startling revelations, ” were disappointed. 

“Who will be the next victim .? ” was the question 
all the capitals of the world were asking. 

The detectives were by no means idle, and from 
occupants of neighboring houses they found that 
Mrs. Inglewood, during her residence, had received 
but few visitors, the most conspicuous being an 
elderly lady, accompanied apparently by her 
daughter. They came several times a week in a 
victoria, and remained an hour. 

This was all the information they were able to 
glean, for it seemed that the unfortunate woman was 
an enigma herself, making the mystery even more 
abstruse. 

On the evening the jury delivered their verdict, I 
went down to the Club. 

In the spacious smoking-room, with its fine por- 
traits of Garrick and his contemporaries (which, alas, 
have now fallen under the hammer), a few Bohemians 
were taking their ease in the well-padded lounge 
chairs, discussing the details of the inquiry as 
reported in the evening journals. 


GUILTY BONDS, 


39 


“It’s all very well to talk,” exclaimed Hugh Lat- 
imer, a young artist of renown, as he cast aside his 
newspaper, “there must be something radically 
wrong with our detective force if the man Burgoyne 
has seen cannot be traced.” 

“But how’s it to be done Perhaps he could not 
be recognized,” suggested one. 

“Or he may be in America by this time,” said 
another. 

“No. I disagree with you. It is proved that the 
guilty one is a well-dressed man, and the success of 
his sanguinary work has been such as to encourage 
him to commit further crimes ; therefore, the logical 
deduction is that he will remain in England and 
continue them,” Latimer replied. “What do you 
think } ” he added, turning to me. 

“I don’t think anything about it, except that I 
heartily wish I’d never been mixed up with it at all,” 
I said. 

“I should have liked it myself,” exclaimed Bob 
Nugent, with an eye to the manufacture of sensa- 
tional “copy.” The remark created a laugh. 

“Well; joking aside,” he continued, “ very few 
of you fellows who are pressmen would have objected 
to being on the scene of the tragedy. Sensational 
writing is the living of most of us, and if Burgoyne 
were in the position he once occupied, he would 
have been eager enough for the chance.” 


40 


GUILTY BONDS. 


“ ^ Them’s just my sentiments,’” said Moreland, 
who was on the staff of a comic journal, and fancied 
himself the wit of the Club. ‘‘But, you see, Bur- 
goyne is no longer one of us ; he’s one of the 
‘ bloated aristocracy,’ as he used to call the wealthy 
at one time.” 

“True,” I said, smiling. “I know from experi- 
ence that such mysteries are an unqualified bless- 
ing to the impecunious journalist. The worst of it 
is that I’ve grown so confoundedly idle now, I really 
have nothing with which to occupy my time.” 

“ But you have plenty of work of a character that 
will benefit mankind, if you’ll only do it,” observed 
Nugent. 

“What’s that?” 

“Find the author of the crimes. You have seen 
him, and it only remains for you to turn amateur 
detective. By the exercise of a little patience you 
will be able to identify the wretch and bring his 
guilt home to him.” 

“Impossible,” I remarked, though the suggestion 
was one which had not crossed my mind before, 
and I felt inclined to give it some consideration, as 
I had grown listless and lazy, and required some- 
thing to occupy my mind. 

' To write for one’s bread and to write for mere 
pastime are very different matters. When I was 
compelled to follow journalism as a profession I put 


GUILTY BONDS. 


41 


my very soul into my work ; but now my keen en- 
thusiasm had entirely disappeared, and I had neither 
patience nor inclination to write for pleasure. 

“ Man-hunting would be rattling good fun,” re- 
marked Latimer, “ especially when one is free, and 
possesses as much of the world’s good things as you, 
Burgoyne.” 

‘‘What nonsense you fellows talk!” I said. 
“How could I hope to succeed where Scotland 
Yard fails } ” 

“ Exactly. But they haven’t seen the man they 
want; you have.” 

“Oh, let’s change the subject. If ever I come 
across him he shall not go unpunished. Now, I’ve 
been at the inquest all day, and am bored to death 
with the whole thing. Come, Bob, let’s go out on 
the balcony ; I want to talk to you,” I added, 
addressing Nugent. 

Rising, we both passed out upon the veranda 
overlooking the Embankment. 


42 


GUILTY BONDS. 


CHAPTER V. 

SUSPICIONS. 

Like many others, I found my sudden acquisition 
of wealth had made me not a whit the more con- 
tented than when I was compelled to write for an 
existence. Still, I was a thorough-going Bohemian, 
and never happier than when amongst that free-and- 
easy artistic circle that made the Junior Garrick its 
headquarters. 

For years Nugent had been my particular chum, 
and had frequently been the means of getting my 
articles accepted when I was more than usually 
hard-up ; and now, in my affluence, I did not fail 
to remember the many services my old friend had 
rendered me. 

As we sat together under the stars I was confiding 
to him how discontented I had felt of late. 

“Well, my dear fellow, there’s only one remedy,” 
said Bob, blowing a cloud of smoke from his lips. 

“And what’s that ? ” 

“Get married.” 


GUILTY BONDS. 


43 


“Marriage be hanged! I couldn’t settle down ; 
besides, it is not my intention to forge the matri- 
monial gyves just yet. The fact is, Bob, I’m not 
well. I believe this horrible murder has given me a 
touch of the blues, and nothing but an entire change 
will rid me of it. I’m bored with everything, and 
with myself most of all. It may seem strange, but I 
have no object in life, except merely to exist. Once 
I envied fellows with money, but, by Jove, I don’t 
now. ” 

“ Then what is your intention } ” 

“To go abroad; and I want you to accompany 
me.” 

“ I should be only too pleased, providing I could 
get away, but I have a great deal of work on hand 
which I must finish,” replied Nugent. 

“Do come, and take the rest with you. Fresh 
surroundings will incite new inspirations, and you 
can combine business with pleasure. Can you be 
ready by next Saturday .? ” 

“ Well, yes, I think so ; but where do you intend 
going } ” 

“Don’t know, and don’t care a straw, as long as 
I get a change. We’ll run over to Paris first, and 
afterwards decide where shall be our next halting- 
place. ” 

“ And how long do you propose being away ? ” 

“Six months — a year, if you like.” 


44 


GUILTY BONDS. 


“I must return in a couple of months at latest, 
for Fve business to attend to. ” 

"‘Very well, return whenever you please. What 
do you say to starting by the night mail on Satur- 
day?” 

Bob replied in the affirmative, and we ratified the 
agreement over a bottle of Pommery. 

Later that night when I left the Club to walk 
home, my thoughts involuntarily wandered to the 
mysterious tragedy which I had discovered. 

It was past one o’clock, and few people were 
about as I turned from Adam Street into the Strand. 
I was alone, and strolling along at an easy pace, 
passed down Drury Lane. 

Suddenly I became conscious that some one had 
been following me, though the footsteps of the per- 
son seemed almost noiseless. 

Thinking it might be some pickpocket, I buttoned 
my coat across the chest, and grasping my stick 
firmly, waited until I approached a gas-lamp, then 
turning suddenly, confronted a respectably-dressed 
man in the garb of a mechanic. 

He was only a few yards from me, and at first I 
felt ashamed of exhibiting such fear, but a moment- 
ary glance sufficed to show that this person was 
also connected with the adventure of the never-to- 
be forgotten evening. 

He was an elderly man, who bore a striking 


GUILTY BONDS. 


45 


resemblance to the detective who had called upon 
me. 

I stood aghast, for this man’s appearance had 
been so sudden and unexpected that I was too much 
confused for the moment to collect my thoughts. 

He was apparently following me and keeping 
observation upon my movements. That fact in- 
stantly aroused in me a feeling of great indignation. 
I should have spoken, and probably an angry scene 
would have followed, had not he, with a celerity of 
movement which baffled my efforts, almost instantly 
gone off in an opposite direction. 

I made no attempt to follow him. 

It was intensely annoying to be tracked in this 
manner. Was I, Frank Burgoyne, to be watched 
like a suspected criminal or a ticket-of-leave man, 
because I had — unfortunately, as it seemed — been 
the means of bringing to light yet another foul piece 
of handiwork of the unknown miscreant ? 

Why did they suspect me ? What end had they 
in view in such a proceeding } 

Suppose my friends and the world should notice 
the suspicion resting upon me ^ I grew hot at the 
very thought. 

Perhaps, after all, he was only acting from curi- 
osity, and not under the orders of his superiors. The 
suggestion was a little consoling, and endeavoring 
to re-assure myself by its aid, I walked briskly home. 


46 


GUILTY BONDS. 


CHAPTER VI. 

VERA SEROFF. 

Two months had elapsed. 

Rob Nugent and I had had a pleasant time up the 
Rhine and among the Swiss lakes, and both ac- 
knowledged ourselves greatly benefited by the 
change. We were in Genoa, having broken our 
journey between Lugano and Rome, intending to 
remain only a couple of days, but finding so much of 
interest in the old city of Paganini and Columbus, 
we had already remained there a fortnight ; and 
neither of us felt any inclination to travel further 
south. 

We had taken up our quarters at the Hotel Isotta, 
in that handsome thoroughfare the Via Roma, of 
which the Genoese are so justly proud, and though 
debarred from sight-seeing in the day-time by reason 
of the blazing autumn sun, we thoroughly enjoyed 
those cool balmy evenings when jalousies are 
thrown open, and the light-hearted Ligurians stroll 
up and down the Via Carlo Felice and the Via As- 


GUILTY BONDS. 


47 

saroti, or sit outside the cafes taking their ease in 
the bel fresco. 

Nugent’s vacation was at an end, for he had 
received a letter which necessitated his almost im- 
mediate return to London. I had neither the desire 
nor intention of quitting Genoa just yet. The cause 
of this was not very far to seek, and of course Bob 
suspected the position of affairs from the first ; yet 
when he signified his intention of departing, and I 
said I should remain another week or so, his sur- 
mise was confirmed, and he could not refrain from 
indulging in a little good-humored chaff at my ex- 
pense. 

The fact was that at the hotel there was also stay- 
ing an exceedingly pretty young lady, named Vera 
Seroff, under the guardianship of her uncle, and ac- 
companied by her French maid. The first evening 
we met at tahle-d'hdte I was fascinated with her 
beauty, and my admiration had not diminished as 
we sat opposite one another on the eve of Nugent’s 
departure. 

The hotel wms not full, and the number dining 
that evening did not exceed twenty, though the long 
table, glittering with its choice glass and plate, 
would have accommodated a hundred. 

My vis-d-vis was about twenty-three, with a face 
as to which there could be no adverse opinion. 
She was dark, with fine eyes, serious and penetrat- 


48 


GUILTY BONDS. 


ing, a delicate little nose, and a well-formed mouth, 
which showed, when she smiled, two rows of pearly 
teeth. She was brisk, vivacious, with a charming 
ingenuousness in her flawless face ; a flgure slim 
and graceful, and a voice silvery and sympathetic. 

In contrast to her was her uncle, who sat by her 
side, a short, stout old gentleman, with sharp 
features, a prominent nose, and scanty white hair, 
who seldom entered into conversation with any one, 
and who always appeared ill-humored, grumbling 
constantly at the heat. 

She spoke English with a pleasant accent, and 
was conversing with Bob and myself, to the appar- 
ent annoyance of the old gentleman, who could 
not understand a word. She was relating her 
impressions of one of the galleries she had visited 
that day, and displayed such a wide knowledge of 
pictures as to astonish Nugent, himself the art-critic 
of the Eveiiing Comet. We both had become friendly 
with her, for, besides meeting daily at the hotel, we 
had several times run across one another at those 
places of interest the tourist always visits. Her 
uncle. Monsieur Hertzen, rarely went out, and her 
maid usually accompanied her on such expeditions ; 
however, when only taking a short walk, she was 
frequently alone. 

On one of these latter occasions I met her in the 
Piazza Principale, and offered to escort her to the 


GUILTY BONDS. 


49 


hotel, to which proposal she made no objection. 
The distance was not great, but it sufficed to break 
the conventional ice between us, and when we 
parted I was more than ever fascinated. Never 
before had I met a woman so beautiful, so charm- 
ing, so near my ideal of perfection. 

When the meal had ended, and we rose, I said to 
her, “This is my friend’s last evening in Genoa. 
He returns to England to-morrow.” 

“And do you go also.?” she asked, with an in- 
tonation — as I flattered myself — of disappointment. 

“Well; no,” I replied; I shall remain a few 
days longer.” 

The shadow of anxiety which had rested momen- 
tarily upon her face, vanished at once, as she turned 
to Nugent, saying, “I am sorry you are leaving, 
and must wish you hon voyage. I hope, some day, 
we may meet again, for our dinner-table discussions 
have been exceedingly pleasant.” 

“Thanks, Mademoiselle,” replied Bob, grasping 
the tiny white hand she held out to him. “My 
business calls me to London, otherwise I should not 
return just yet. However, I hope you will prevent 
my friend, here, from getting into any scrapes with 
the bloodthirsty Italians after I’m gone.” 

She laughed merrily as she answered, “He’s 
quite old enough to take care of himself. I cannot 
undertake the responsibility. Good-bye,” and 
4 


GUILTY BONDS, 


50 

she tripped away up the stairs to her own apart- 
ments. 

“Old fellow/’ exclaimed Bob, after she was out 
of hearing, “ if you feel inclined to pitch yourself 
into the matrimonial net, there’s your chance ; and 
I wish you every success.” 

“Well, there are more unlikely things than my 
enlistment in the ranks of Benedicts,” I replied, 
laughing, as we sought our hats and went out to 
spend our last evening together. 

Early the following morning Nugent departed for 
Turin, en route for England, and I was left alone to 
amuse myself as best I could. Truth to tell, I was 
not sorry Bob had gone, for now I felt free to devote 
myself to the beautiful woman who held me under 
her spell. I lost no time in carrying out my object, 
for meeting her in the drawing-room before dinner, I 
obtained permission to escort her on her evening 
walk. 

It was already dusk when the tediously long meal 
was brought to a conclusion, and we left the hotel, 
strolling along the Galleria Mazzini towards the 
public gardens of Aqua Sola, the most charming prom- 
enade in Genoa. It is situated upon a picturesque 
cliff overlooking the port and the Mediterranean 
beyond, while at the rear rise the tall vine-covered 
Appenines, with romantic-looking villas peeping out 
here and there from amongst the olives and maize. 


GUILTY BONDS. 


51 


The shadow of its great old trees form a delightful 
retreat from the scorching noon-day sun ; but at 
night, when the people refresh themselves after the 
heat and burden of the day, its gravelled walks are 
thronged by the 'elite. Fashionable Genoa enjoys 
herself with mad but harmless frolic, and under the 
deep shadows fire-flies flit and couples flirt. 

Upon an old stone seat near a plashing fountain 
we sat listening to the sweet melancholy strains 
of the Sempre Vostro waltz, performed by the 
splendid band of the National Guard. On the right 
the many-colored fairy lamps of the gardens attached 
to the Caffe dltalia shone through the dark foliage ; 
on the left the ripple of the sea surged softly far 
below. Away across the moonlit waters flashed the 
warning beacon of the port, and the air was heavy 
with the sensuous odor of orange blossom and roses. 

For upwards of an hour we sat talking ; she piquante., 
bright, and amusing ; I lazily enjoying a cigar, and 
watching her beautiful face in rapt admiration. I 
told her of myself — how the interest in my sole 
object in life had been suddenly destroyed by 
affluence — and my present position, that of a world- 
weary tourist, with no definite purpose further than 
killing time. 

All my efforts to learn some events of her past 
life or her place of abode were unavailing. I am 
plain Vera Seroff,’' she replied, “and I, too, am a 


GUILTY BONDS. 


52 

wanderer — what you call bird of passage. I have 
no country, alas ! even if I have patriotism.’" 

But you are Russian .? ” I said. 

“Quite true — yes. I shall return to Russia — some 
day.” And she sighed, as if the mention of her 
native land stirred strangely sad memories. 

“Where do you intend going when you leave 
here ? ” I asked. 

“I have not the slightest idea. We have no fixed 
abode, and travel whither it suits my uncle — London, 
New York, Paris ; it matters little where we go.” 

“You have been in England ; have you not?” 

“Yes; and I hate it,” she replied, abruptly, at 
once turning the conversation into another channel. 
She appeared extremely reticent regarding her past, 
and by no amount of ingenuity could I obtain any 
further information. 

When it grew chilly, we rose and walked along 
past the forts, and out upon the Spezzia road, where 
a refreshing breeze blew in from the sea. 

In her soft white dress, with a bunch of crimson 
roses at her throat, I had never seen her looking so 
beautiful. I loved her madly, blindly, and longed 
to tell her so. 

Yet how could I? 

Such a proceeding would be absurd, for our 
acquaintance had been of so brief a duration that 
we scarcely knew anything of .one another. 


GUILTY BONDS. 


53 


CHAPTER VII. 

A SECRET TIE. 

On our return we traversed the road skirting the 
fortress, and paused for a few moments, resting 
upon a disused gun-carriage. The moon had re- 
appeared and cast its long line of pale light upon 
the rippling waters of the Mediterranean. 

Suddenly, as we were seated side by side, her 
dark eyes met mine, and by some inexplicable in- 
tuition,, some mysterious rapport between my soul 
and hers, I knew I was something more to her than 
a mere casual acquaintance. My reason answered 
me that I must be mad to think she loved me, but 
my heart told me different, and gradually all my 
misgivings vanished before the hope and confi- 
dence that the conviction of her love raised in my 
mind. 

“I have just been wondering,” I said, ‘‘whether, 
when we part in a few days, we shall ever meet 
again, for, believe me, I shall cherish the fondest 
memory of this evening we have passed together. 
It is charming.” 


54 


GUILTY BONDS. 


“And I also,” she replied, “but as you say in 
English, the best of friends must part.” 

It is useless to repeat the words I uttered. Suffice 
it to say that I could restrain my feelings no longer, 
and there, in the bright Italian moonlight, I de- 
clared my estatic passion, and asked her to be my 
wife. 

Had I taken her unawares } Probably so ; for, 
when I had finished, she rose with an effort, and 
withdrawing her hand gently, said, “ No, Frank — 
for I may call you by that name — your request I 
am unable to grant, and the reason I cannot now 
explain. There is, alas ! an insurmountable barrier 
between us, and had you known more of me you 
would not have asked me this.” 

“But, Vera, you love me, you can’t deny it ! ” I 
passionately exclaimed. 

Tears stood in her eyes, as she answered, “Yes, 
yes, I do — I love you dearly ! ” 

“Then what is this obstacle to our happiness ” 

“No ! no ! ” she cried, covering her face with her 
hands. “Request no explanation, for I — I cannot 
give it. It would be fatal.” 

“ But why? ” I asked, for it was a cruel and bitter 
disappointment. All my hopes had been shattered 
in those brief moments. 

“From the day we first met I have known we 
loved one another,” she said slowly, “ yet it would 


GUILTY BONDS. 


55 

have been better had we never become acquainted, 
since it causes pain to both/' 

“But, surely, if you love me, Vera, this obstacle 
can be removed ! Tell me what it is ; if a secret, it 
will be safe with me," I said earnestly. 

She dashed the tears from her eyes, and with an 
effort stood erect before me, saying : 

“No! it is impossible. Think no more of mar- 
riage, Frank ; regard me only as a dear friend who 
loves you." 

“Then you will not tell me why we cannot 
marry ? " I said, gravely, rising and taking her 
hand. 

“It — it is a secret. I would rather die than di- 
vulge it ; though, some day, perhaps, the circum- 
stances will alter, and I shall be at liberty to tell you 
everything. For the present we love one another, 
but it must end there ; marriage is entirely out of 
the question." 

I saw it was useless to press for any further ex- 
planation. Evidently she was prepared for any 
self-sacrifice to protect her secret, because, when 
finding herself wavering, she had summoned all her 
strength, and with a mighty effort overcame her 
emotion, resolutely giving her answer. 

As we rose and turned towards the city, a circum- 
stance, slight in itself, occurred, which afterwards 
caused me not a little perturbation and surprise, and 


56 GUIL TY BONDS. 

which considerably enhanced the mystery surround- 
ing the fair Russian. 

We were passing a buttress of the fort when my 
attention was arrested by what appeared to be a 
man standing bolt upright in the shadow. 

I was too engrossed with thoughts of our tete-a-tele 
to allow the discovery of an eavesdropper — prob- 
ably only a peasant — to cause me any alarm, but, 
seeing my eyes upon him, for I had halted to make 
sure, the figure suddenly drew from the shadow, 
and, with its face averted from the moonlight, walked 
rapidly away. 

Vera, uttering an exclamation of surprise or alarm, 
— which it was I could not tell — seized my arm with 
a convulsive energy that caused me no small pleasure 
at the feeling of dependence it implied, and drew a 
deep breath. 

“ Do you know him } ” I asked. 

‘*No, no ; not at all,’’ she quickly replied. “He 
might have heard us ; but never mind.” 

I endeavored to learn the cause of her alarm 
thinking that so much agitation could not be created 
by such a trivial circumstance ; but whether my 
knowledge of feminine nature was imperfect, or 
whether she knew who the listener was, and con- 
cealed his identity, I could not learn, her answers 
being of the most evasive kind. 

It was plain that the fact of our being discovered 


GUILTY BONDS. 


57 


together had caused her the greatest consternation, 
and I was considerably puzzled to assign to this a 
reason. 

I did not broach the subject again, however, but 
walked straight to the hotel, where we bade each 
other huona notte. 

We met daily, and I, most prosaic of bachelors, 
found myself thinking of her every moment. 

Though in a dejected, perplexed mood, I felt 
utterly happy when at her side ; for had she not 
given me words of hope for the future, and in these 
was a certain amount of consolation, however slight. 
Our clandestine meetings were so skilfully arranged 
as to keep the ever-grumbling Hertzen in entire 
ignorance, and Vera admitted such expeditions were 
her happiest hours. 

One evening, a fortnight afterwards, we had driven 
to Pegli, a quaint old fishing village four miles from 
Genoa. It was a gorgeous sunset, the sea a glit- 
tering expanse of blue and gold stretching out 
toward the descending sky, with nothing to fleck 
its surface but the gleam of a white sail or two ; 
and as we walked together, close to the lapping 
waves, I fancied she looked a trifle wan and 
anxious. 

At first I took no heed of it, but presently her 
agitation became so apparent that I asked whether 
3he were well. 


GUIL TY BONDS. 


58 ' 

“Yes, well enough in health,” she sighed, “but 
very unhappy.” 

“Why, how is that? ” I asked in concern. 

“Ah ! Frank,” she said, with her eyes fixed sor- 
rowfully upon the ground, “ I must not tell you all, 
so you cannot understand ; but I am one of those 
born to unhappiness.” 

“Tell me something of this sorrow, that I may 
sympathize with you, ” I said, looking into her eyes. 
“ If it is in my power to help you I will do so will- 
ingly.” 

“Ah! if you would?” she exclaimed wistfully, 
her face brightening at a suggestion w^hich appeared 
to flash across her mind. “There is indeed one 
way by which you might render me a service, but 
it is impossible. I am afraid the commission is too 
great for you to undertake. ” 

“I am ready to serve you in any way, Vera. If 
a test of my devotion is required, Fm prepared for 
the ordeal,” I replied seriously. 

She halted, and gazing into my face with eyes 
brimming with tears, said: “Believe me, I am in 
sore need of a friend. I will tell you something of 
my trouble, but do not ask for further explanations 
now, as I cannot give them. The man whom you 
know as my uncle holds me in his power. He is 
harsh, cruel, and — and ” 

“ATe is your husband!'' I interrupted in a low 


GUILTY BONDS. 


59 

voice, for somehow I felt convinced that such was 
the case. 

No ! no ! ” she cried hoarsely ; “ no, I swear that 
is not so. He is neither husband, nor even friend. 
Though my uncle, he is unworthy the name of 
relation. I am unfortunately in his thrall, and dare 
not disobey his will. To do so would mean ” 

“ What.? — tell me.’’ 

“ Impossible. The longer I live the more I learn 
to hate his presence. Ah, if you could but know ! ” 

There was an intensity of bitterness in that utter- 
ance, a flash in her clear dark eyes that spoke of a 
fierce passion. Could it be hatred .? 

“Vera; why not trust me.?” I implored, taking 
her hand, and seeking to penetrate the indomitable 
reserve in which her words were shrouded. 

“ Once and for all, Frank, it cannot be.” 

Her answer came short, sharp, decisive, firm, yet 
with ineffable sadness. 

“Heaven knows! I would willingly share your 
burden, Vera.” 

She paused, as if in doubt. 

The silence grew painful, and I watched the mo- 
bile features which so plainly indexed the passing 
emotions of her mind. A blush, like that of shame, 
tinged her cheek and pallid brow as she lifted her 
face to mine, although her eyes were downcast. 

“Frank,” she said, slowly, “ will you help me,?’' 


6o 


GUILTY BONDS. 


With heart and soul, dearest.” 

'‘Then you can do so.” And she drew a deep 
breath. 

“ How .? ” 

She hesitated, wavering even then, as it seemed ; 
and the color left her cheeks as suddenly as it had 
appeared. 

In a low voice, speaking rapidly and impetuously, 
she replied : — 

“ Briefly, you may learn this. My uncle is my 
guardian. He has, I believe, appropriated a large 
sum of money which is mine by right. Ah ! I know 
what you would say. But I dare not prosecute or 
expose him, for the consequences would be almost 
beyond conception, and would affect myself more 
even than him. I am powerless ! ” 

“ But I can help you ? ” 

“ Fm afraid you will not consent to what I ask.” 

“What is it.? You know I cannot refuse a behest 
of yours. ” 

“A further annoyance, in fact a great danger, 
threatens me now. My dead mother’s jewels — on 
which I place great store, for they are the only 
souvenir remaining of she whom I dearly loved — 
are now coveted by him. In vain I have besought 
him to let me keep them, but he is inexorable. To 
place them with a friend in whom I have confidence 
js the only course remaining ; that friend lives— — ” 


GUILTY BONDS. 


6i 


“Yes, where?” 

“At St. Petersburg.” 

“St. Petersburg ! ” I exclaimed, in surprise. “Oh ! 
but, of course, it is your home ? ” 

“It is ; or rather was. Had I the opportunity I 
would convey them there myself, braving the dis- 
pleasure of my harsh ■ relative and the punishment 
that would follow. Unhappily I am debarred. To 
trust the jewels to the post would be too great a 
risk, and it is only to — to such a — confidant as you 
that I can look for assistance.” 

“And this is all ? ” I asked. “You merely want 
me to take them to St. Petersburg ? ” 

“That is all.” 

“The commission is a slight one, Vera ; you know 
how willingly I would undertake, for your sake, a 
thousand such ” 

“ How can I ever thank you enough ? ” she inter- 
rupted, her face assuming a brighter expression. 
“ I really thought it too much to ask of you.” 

“Nothing could be too much, dearest. When 
shall I start ? ” 

“As soon as possible. By delay all may be lost. 
It is imperative you should be in Russia three weeks 
from to-day.” 

“Three weeks from to-day,” I echoed. 

“ Yes, within that time, or it will be useless — my 
friend will have departed. ” 


62 


GUILTY BONDS. 


“Then I am ready to set out to-morrow. Have 
you any message ? What must I do } 

“To-morrow morning I will give you the case. 
Go to the Hotel Michaeli, on the Galernoi Oulitza, 
at St. Petersburg, and remain there until a tall, fair 
gentleman presents my card and asks for them. He 
will give his name as Paul Volkhovski.’^ 

“Very well,” I said, “I shall leave to-morrow 
night. ” 

Then we retraced our steps, and entering the car- 
riage, drove back to Genoa in the fading twilight. 

Next morning we met alone in the drawing-room, 
and she placed in my hands a leather jewel-case 
about nine inches square and three deep, securely 
sealed, saying, — 

“I trust to you for their safety. Do not let this 
out of your sight for an instant, and on no account 
allow the seals to be broken, for it will be easy 
enough to pass so small a box through the douane.'* 

I bade her rest assured the diamonds would be 
safe in my hands, and that I would carry out her 
instructions regarding the preservation of the seals. 

“I trust you implicitly,” she repeated. “And 
now — as to funds ? ” producing her purse. 

“No,” I said firmly, “I should not think of taking 
your money. This journey will be a pleasure, and 
you must allow me to defray its cost.” 

“Thank you, a thousand times,” she replied, her 


GUILTY BONDS. 63 

lips quivering with emotion. “Our movements are 
very uncertain, but I have your London address, and 
will write and inform you of our wanderings from 
time to time.” 

“After I have accomplished this mission, I shall 
return to you immediately, when I hope you will be 
convinced that my love is no *mere passing fancy, 
but a ” 

“Hark!” she interrupted, “my uncle's cough. 
Go 1 — Farewell ! ” 

I bent and kissed her, then snatching up the box, 
hurriedly left the room. 


64 


GUILTY BONDS. 


CHAPTER VIII. 

POST-HASTE ACROSS EUROPE. 

One circumstance puzzled me greatly. 

My baggage had already been placed in the car- 
riage which was to take me to the station, and in de- 
scending the stairs to depart I passed the sitting-room 
occupied by Vera. The door was ajar, and I was 
suddenly prompted to enter to wish her a final adieu. 
Having opened the door half-way I heard voices, 
which caused me to halt. Vera was seated upon an 
ottoman, her elbows upon her knees in an attitude 
of dejection. Before her, with his hands thrust deep 
in his capacious pockets, stood a well-made, athletic 
young fellow, who, though his back was turned to- 
wards me, had the air of a military officer. Appar- 
ently he had assumed a commanding demeanor, for 
he was bending over her, speaking rapidly in a lan- 
guage I did not understand, while she was appeal- 
ing to him to desist. 

I had already bade her adieu, and as neither 
noticed me I passed down the staircase and out into 


G UIL TY B ONDS. 6 5 

the street, the thick pile of the carpet preventing my 
footsteps being heard. 

In my drive to the station I was greatly perplexed 
over this incident, wondering who the man could 
be. Evidently he was a Russian, and had just ar- 
rived or was on the point of departing on a journey, 
for he wore a long travelling ulster and soft felt hat. 
From Vera's dispirited manner it appeared as if he 
were giving some directions which were hateful to 
her, and which she was vainly resisting. 

I somehow felt certain, too, that he had pronounced 
my name ; and at mention of it she shrank as if in 
fear. It seemed very much as if this man, as well 
as her uncle, exercised some power over her, and 
during my long night journey I tried to account for 
the stranger’s presence. 

After all, it might be nothing, I thought at last ; and 
perhaps the green-eyed monster had arisen within 
me and distorted, as it often does, what would other- 
wise have seemed a very commonplace occurrence. 

On the third evening after leaving Genoa I arrived 
at Charing Cross, having travelled incessantly by 
the Mont Cenis route without breaking the journey 
at Paris. It was impossible for me to go to Russia 
without a passport, therefore I was compelled to re- 
turn to London and obtain one. At first I was 
troubled by this, the time ofmy arrival being limited 
to three weeks ; but afterwards, finding the journey 
5 ^ 


66 


GUILTY BONDS. 


from. Italy to the Russian captial was much more 
circuitous than from London, I made the best of it, 
feeling certain I should be able to deliver the jewels 
within the time stipulated by the woman who had 
enchanted me. 

On my arrival I drove at once to my rooms and 
sought the rest of which I was so sorely in need, 
afterwards setting about packing a few additional 
necessaries for my journey. For three days, how- 
ever, I was obliged to remain in London before I 
could obtain my passport, and though impatient to 
set out, I passed the time as best I could. 

The evening of the second day I met Nugent at 
the Club. 

He expressed the greatest surprise at meeting me, 
yet I did not inform him of the journey I had under- 
taken, but led him to believe that my life at Genoa 
had become unbearable after he had left, and that 
on the following day I contemplated returning to 
Paris for a few weeks. 

We dined together and afterwards went to the 
Alhambra, but only once did he refer to Vera. 

It was after the ballet, when we were taking ci- 
garettes and coffee. 

“By the way,” he said suddenly, a mischievous 
smile lighting up his genial face, “what progress 
did you make with la belle Seroff? You have not 
spoken of her. ” 


GUILTY BONDS. 67 

I did not care to be questioned upon this matter, 
so appeared to treat it as a joke. 

Ah ! I replied, “ it was a mere flirtation. 
Why, really. Bob, old chap, I believe you regarded 
that little affair seriously,’’ I said, laughing. 

He raised his eyebrows slightly, saying, “ You 
guessed aright. I thought you were in love with 
her ; but am glad to hear such is not the case.” 

“Why.?” I asked, in surprise, for had he not 
hinted more than once that she would make me a 
charming wife ? 

“ No reason, no reason,” he replied evasively ; 
“ simply because I’ve altered the opinion I once held 
regarding her. ” 

I requested no further explanation, for the bell was 
ringing, denoting that the curtain had risen, and we 
returned to our stalls. 

Could he have seen or heard anything to cause him 
to utter this vague warning ? I asked myself. No, 
surely not ; yet it was strange, to say the least. 

Having obtained my passport properly vised by the 
Russian Consul, on the evening fellowing I entered a 
first-class compartment of the Queenborough express 
at Victoria, and, settling myself, commenced the ini- 
tial stage of my long journey across Europe. As the 
train sped onward through the Kentish hop-gardens, 
I sat watching the September sun change from gold 
to purple, and eventually disappear behind the dark 


68 


GUIL TV BONDS. 


night-clouds. Safely stowed away in my valise was 
the jewel-case ; but I had already devised a plan 
whereby it would escape the prying douaniers — the 
same by which I had brought it from Italy un- 
opened, viz., to place it in the capacious pockets 
of my travelling coat, and hang that garment upon 
my arm during the examination of the baggage. 

I was alone in the carriage, but by reading the 
newspapers with which I had provided myself, 
managed to wile away the two hours’ journey to 
the sea. 

With relief I alighted at Queenborough Pier, and 
embarked upon the Flushing steamer, for here I 
knew the sensation of loneliness would quickly 
disappear. The whir-r of the steam crane, hubbub 
and noise, mingled with disconsolate comments in 
English and staccato sounds in French, soon ceased, 
and very quickly the vessel had set herhead towards 
the Dutch coast. 

At seven we landed, and an hour later I had com- 
menced a several days’ journey by rail across the 
continent, the terrible monotony of which is known 
only to those who have accomplished it. Cramped 
up in a coiip'e-lit for a day and night is sufficient 
to tire most persons, but a continuance of that sort of 
thing is the reverse of enjoyable. 

Both at Flushing and Kaldenkirchen I contrived 
to smuggle the jewels through the douane, and with a 


GUILTY BONDS. 69 

honeymooning' couple and a voluble old Frenchman 
as fellow-passengers, I travelled onward through 
Duisburg, Oberhausen, and Hanover, arriving at 
Berlin early on the third morning after leaving Lon- 
don. 

Here I decided to break the journey for a day, 
having traversed half the distance, and after seeking 
repose at a hotel, strolled through the city to stretch 
my legs. That evening I passed wandering alone 
through the principal thoroughfares, and lounging in 
several beer gardens, returning to the hotel shortly 
before midnight, and resuming my eastward journey 
the following morning. 

With scarcely any interesting scenery, it was a 
wearying monotony enough throughout the day, but 
when night drew on and the shrieking of the engine 
and whirl and rattle of wheels made sleep impossi- 
ble, it was absoutely unendurable. My French 
novel no longer interested me. I was excessively 
fatigued, and as I lay my aching head upon the velvet 
cushion of the narrow berth, watching the flickering 
oil-lamp, my meditations reverted, as they con- 
stantly did, to the pleasant evenings Vera and I had 
spent beside the Mediterranean. Thoughts of her 
for whose sake I had undertaken this journey, of her 
strange position, and of the service it was in my 
power to render her, acted as an incentive, and 
caused the inconveniences and fatigue of travel to 


70 GUILTY BONDS. 

appear much less than they would otherwise have 
been. 

In a fortnight I hoped to have fulfilled my promise 
and return to her, for this enforced separation I 
could tolerate no longer than was absolutely neces- 
sary. Already I was eagerly looking forward to the 
time when I should again be at her side, for was it 
not my duty to be near and to protect her whom I 
loved } 

What might not happen during my absence ? I 
dreaded to think. 

Evidently she was in the hands of an unscrupulous 
villain, and my anxiety and hope was to marry her 
as soon as possible, and take her under my own 
protection. 

Like other men, I had had my flirtations, but 
this was my Grand Passion. I loved Vera heart 
and soul, passionately and purely, and was deter- 
mined to make her my wife without delay. As I 
lay there I could not help reflecting how little of 
real happiness I had known before we met ; how 
selfish and unsatisfactory my life had hitherto been, 
when my motto was Chacun pour soi, et Dieu pour 
nous ious. 

Now, all was changed. At last I had found the 
woman whom I believed was predestined to become 
my wife ; she who had fascinated me, who held me 
for life or death. 


GUILTY BONDS. 


71 


Through the long^ night I thought only of her, 
puzzled over the secret of the old man’s influence ; 
happy and content, nevertheless, in the knowledge 
that ere long I should return to her, never to 
part. 


72 


GUILTY BONDS. 


CHAPTER IX. 

IN THE IZAK PLATZ. 

Why need I refer further to the terribly wearisome 
journey across Prussia, Poland and Western Russia? 
Those of my readers who have accomplished it 
know well how dull, tedious and tiring it is, travel- 
ling hour after hour, day after day, through a flat, 
uninteresting country. 

Suffice it to say, that on the fifth day after leaving 
London, the train came to a standstill in the spacious 
station of the Russian capital. 

After some difficulty I discovered the whereabouts 
of the Hotel Michaeli, and entering a Itkhac was 
driven to a small, and rather uninviting hotel under 
the shadow of the gilded dome of the Izak Church. 

The proprietor, a tall, black-bearded Russian, 
greeted me warmly in French, exclaiming : 

“ M'sieur Burgoyne, nest ce pas 

“That is my name,^' I replied. 

“The apartments ordered for you are in readi- 
ness.” 

“ Who ordered them ? I asked. 


GUILTY BONDS. 


73 

** M’sieur must be aware that a gentleman secured 
his rooms a week ago ? ” 

“No, I did not know that arrangements had been 
made for my reception,” I said. 

“Will msieur have the kindness to sign the reg- 
ister before ascending?” he said, politely handing 
me a book and pen. 

Those who have not travelled in the dominions of 
the Czar know nothing of the strict police regulations; 
the many formalities the foreigner has to undergo, 
and the questions he must answer before he is 
allowed to take up even a temporary residence in 
the Venice of the North. 

I wrote replies to the printed questions in the book, 
and, signing my name, handed it back to him, and 
was shown to my rooms. 

Though anxious to complete my mission and re- 
turn, I confess I found much of interest. St. Peters- 
burg externally is the finest city in the world, but 
internally the dirtiest and most enthralled, struggling 
as it does under a police regime so harsh that one 
can scarcely walk the streets without infringing some 
law, and attracting the attention of the spies, who 
everywhere abound. 

I remained waiting several days for the appearance 
of the man to whom I was to deliver the diamonds, 
but he did not present himself, so I occupied myself 
inspecting the sights of the city. Through the 


GUILTY BONDS. 


74 

churches of Kazan, St. Nicholas, and the Interces- 
sion I wandered, astounded at their magnificence ; 
saw a comedy at the Bolshoi, admired the statues of 
Peter the Great and Souvaroff, and, perhaps the 
greatest novelty of all, visited that most magnificent 
of imperial residences, the Winter Palace. 

Here occurred an incident of which at the time I 
thought nothing, though afterwards I had much 
cause to remember it. 

Following one of the gorgeously attired servants 
through a labyrinth of picture galleries and apart- 
ments, we entered the Salle Blanche, the most luxuri- 
ous chamber of this splendid palace, with its wonder- 
ful decorations of white and gold, from which it 
derives its name. In this chamber are held those 
court fdtes which eclipse all others in the world, for 
it is here the nobility assemble to pay homage to 
the Autocrat of all the Russias. 

Standing in the centre of the apartment, I gazed 
in wonderment upon its marvellous gilding and 
glittering magnificence, while the servant described 
graphically, but parrot-like, how the receptions 
were conducted, the blazing of the priceless jewels 
worn by the Empress, and how the Emperor him- 
self, the most quietly dressed amongst the gay 
assemblage, walked and talked with his guests. 

The whiteness of the walls I was unable to under- 
stand, and being of a somewhat inquisitive nature, 


GUILTY BONDS. 


75 


and desirous of ascertaining whether they were 
marble or wood-panel, I rapped upon it sharply with 
my knuckles. 

In an instant a sentry, who had been standing 
motionless at the door, and several servants in the 
Imperial livery, were at my side. 

“For what reason did you tap that wall? ’’ de- 
manded one- of the men in French. 

I was thoroughly taken by surprise, and stam- 
mered out an apology, urging that I was not aware 
of committing any offence. 

“It is an offence, and a grave one,” exclaimed 
the servant, whom I afterwards found was a police 
spy. “Visitors must not touch the walls in that 
manner, and we have orders to eject those who 
break the law.” 

“Oh, very well,” I replied, rather ruffled at the 
man’s impertinence, “I have no desire to do any- 
thing contrary to this strange law of yours ; and, 
moreover, Fll leave the Palace.” 

With these words, I turned and retraced my steps 
to the entrance, being closely followed by the sentry 
and the guide. 

It was a very small matter and soon passed out of 
my mind, though it afterwards proved more serious 
than one would have imagined. 

Life in St. Petersburg was so different from any 
to be found in Western Europe, that during the few 


GUILTY BONDS. 


76 

days I awaited the arrival of the man to whom I 
was to deliver the jewels, I thoroughly enjoyed 
myself. 

In the daytime, perhaps the place which has most 
attraction for the foreigner is the Nevskoi Prospekt. 
It is the principal thoroughfare, a fine broad street 
four versts long, with imposing houses and hand- 
some shops, the favorite promenade of the haut tori. 
The bustle and throng is as great as in Regent Street 
or the Strand on a sunny day, for the endless line of 
well-appointed equipages, with servants in splendid 
liveries, and mostly drawn by four horses, roll noise- 
lessly over the asphalte, while upon the pavement 
stroll princes and generals in uniform, aides-de-camp 
and staff officers, merchants, mujiks, Greeks, Cir- 
cassians — indeed, that heterogeneous assortment 
of sects and races which combine to make up the 
population of a great city. Russian women, as a 
rule, are the reverse of prepossessing ; but the ladies 
who shop in the Nevskoi, and afterwards promenade 
on the English Quay, are even more remarkable for 
their elegance and beauty than those one sees in the 
Row or on Parisian boulevards. 

As it is not my intention, however, to dilate upon 
Russian manners and customs, except for the purpose 
of presenting this strange drama in which I played 
a leading part, I must refrain from commenting on 
the thousand and one show places, the coffin shops, 


GUILTY BONDS. 


77 


in the windows of which the grim receptacles for the 
dead are ticketed, and many other things which 
strike the stranger as ludicrous and curious. 

I saw them merely pour passer le temps, and they 
can be of but little interest in the present narrative. 

Exactly three weeks had passed since I bade fare- 
well to Vera. I had breakfasted, and was standing 
before the window looking out upon the Izak Platz, 
that broad square in the centre of which the column 
of Alexander stands out in bold relief. Not having 
made up my mind whither I should repair in search 
of pleasure, I was idly watching the busy, ever- 
changing crowd of pedestrians and vehicles, when I 
heard the door behind me open, and, turning, con- 
fronted a tall, fair-bearded man, who had entered 
unannounced. He was well-dressed, and as I 
turned and looked inquiringly at him, he bowed and 
removed his hat. 

‘‘Is it to M’sieur Frank Burgoyne I have the 
pleasure of speaking ? ” he asked politely, in very fair 
English. 

“ Quite correct, ” I replied. 

“ Allow me to present to you the carte of Mademoi- 
selle Vera Seroff, and to introduce myself. Paul 
Volkhovski is my name, and — er — need I tell you 
the object of my visit.?’' he inquired, showing an 
even set of white teeth as he smiled. 

“ It is unnecessary,” I replied, glancing at the card 


78 GUILTY BONDS. 

he took from his wallet and handed to me. ‘‘The 
jewels are quite safe in that box upon the ottoman. 
The seals, you will notice, are untouched.” 

“ Merct,'’ he replied, a grin of satisfaction lighting 
up his countenance as he repeated, “The jewels — 
ah!” 

Crossing quickly to where the box lay, he took it 
up and examined it minutely. 

Hal harosho ! ” he exclaimed confidently, re- 
placing it with care. 

There was something peculiar in his manner which 
I could not fail to notice. 

To tell the truth, I was rather disappointed in 
Vera’s friend. I had imagined that any friends of 
hers must be men with whom I could readily asso- 
ciate, whereas there was nothing beyond mere bour- 
geois respectability in Monsieur Volkhovski. 

Somehow a feeling of suspicion crept over me. 

It was possible some one had personated the man 
whom I was awaiting 1 At that moment it occurred 
to me that the means at my disposal to recognize 
him were exceedingly slight. 

This man might be an impostor. 

“ How do I know, m’sieur — if you will pardon 
my interrogation — that you are the person you rep- 
resent yourself.? ” I said, regarding him keenly. 

With an exclamation in Russian which I did not 
understand, he said, “It is not for you to doubt ! 


GUILTY BONDS. 


79 


Mademoiselle Seroff asked you to bring the dia- 
monds to me. Your commission is ended.” 

“I had conceived,” I replied rather warmly, that 
Mademoiselle s friends were mine. Apparently I 
am mistaken.” 

‘‘It matters not — a mere trifle.” 

“ At least you will give me a receipt to show that 
my promise has been carried out.” 

“ She said nothing of any receipt, and I will give 
none.” 

Evidently he was alarmed. 

“Then I shall not give up the jewels ” 

“ Not another word ! You have safely delivered 
them, and your commission is ended. Go back to 
Mademoiselle as quickly as possible. She is expect- 
ing you, and will explain all. You have rendered 
her a great service, and she owes you a debt of 
gratitude.” 

Walking to the door, with the sealed jewel-case 
carefully placed in the pocket of his fashionable 
dust-coat, he simply paused to add, with a severe 
air : 

“You have been mistaken, m’sieur ; you deceived 
yourself. I wish you, adieu and a safe return.” 

Before I could utter another word he had left the 


room. 


8o 


GUILTY BONDS. 


CHAPTER X. 

THE spider’s web. 

I GAVE myself up to reflection. 

Vera was an enigma, it was true, yet somehow I 
could not bring myself to realize that she had made 
pretence to love me merely for the purpose of pre- 
vailing upon me to undertake the conveyance of the 
jewels. Loving her as sincerely as I did, I was loth 
to credit anything base of her, feeling confident she 
reciprocated my affection. 

It must be confessed that I was bitterly disap- 
pointed in Volkhovski. He had not welcomed me 
as I had expected, and his behavior was so brusque 
as to leave me no pleasant impression of his char- 
acter. 

The day wore on. 

The afternoon I spent smoking in the Cafd Chinois 
in the Nevskoi Prospekt, and in the evening strolled 
through the delightfully artistic Summer Gardens, 
debating whether I should remain a few days longer, 
or leave Russia at once. 

Sitting alone at dinner about seven o’clock, I 


GUILTY BOJSTDS. 


8l 


chanced to gaze across the Polschad. It was ap- 
parent something unusual had taken place, for peo- 
ple were standing in small groups talking and ges- 
ticulating together; and as I rose to regard them 
more closely, Trosciansky, the proprietor of the 
hotel, entered, with a pale, half-scared expression 
upon his face. 

“What’s the matter outside } ” I asked in French. 
“It seems as if something is wrong.” 

“I have heard of nothing, m’sieur,” he replied, 
with an expression of astonishment which I detect- 
ed was feigned, at the same time advancing to the 
window and looking out. 

I made a mental note that mine host was not tell- 
ing the truth, for his agitation was plainly observ- 
able ; and, while a number of police were being 
marched across the square, he quickly withdrew his 
face from the window, as if half-fearful lest he should 
be observed. He left the room for a few moments, 
afterwards returning with a large bowl of crimson 
flowers, which he placed upon a small table close 
to the window, remarking : 

“These will make your room brighter, m’sieur. 
I, myself, am very fond of flowers.” 

“And Fm not,” I remarked, “ I detest flowers in 
a room ; take them away, please.” 

He turned and looked at me with surprise, not 

unmixed with alarm. 

6 


82 


GUILTY BONDS. 


“ Eh ? M’sieur really means I am to take av^ay 
the beautiful blossoms ? ” he said, raising his eye- 
brows in astonishment. 

“Yes, I won’t have them here on any account, 
they smell so faint. ” 

He hesitated for a few seconds, then replied : 
“Well, I regret it, for I procured these expressly 
for m’sieur’s benefit,” and carried the bowl out of 
the room, muttering as he did so, “Then it must 
be the artificial ones.” 

He had been absent only a few minutes before 
he reappeared, bearing a large basket of crimson 
roses in wax, under a glass shade, and set them 
in the place whence he had removed the real 
ones. 

“What have you brought those for?” I asked, 
as wax-flowers are one of my abominations. 

“For you, m’sieur. Are they not superb? — so 
near the life. Wonderfully clever imitation, are 
they not ? ” 

I nodded assent, but it struck me there must be 
some reason for the hotel-keeper placing these in 
my window. What was it ? 

I was about to order him to remove them also, 
but refrained from doing so, determined to observe 
this strange proceeding and endeavor to find out 
the cause. 

After some cigarettes, I went out for an evening 


GUILTY BONDS. 


83 


stroll, and as soon as I gained the street there were 
unmistakable signs that something extraordinary 
had happened, though, not speaking Russian, I 
was unable to ascertain. Intelligence of some de- 
scription had spread like wildfire and was causing a 
terrible sensation, for from mouth to mouth omi- 
nous news was whispered with bated breath, con- 
versations were being carried on in an undertone, 
heads were shaken mysteriously, and newspapers 
rapidly scanned, which all tended to confirm my 
suspicion that something had occurred. 

Such a stir had not been created in the capital for 
many years, and that night the streets presented a 
scene of panic that impressed itself indelibly upon 
my memory. 

When I returned to the hotel I chanced to be walk- 
ing upon the opposite side of the street, and glanc- 
ing up, before crossing, saw what caused me to 
start in surprise. Though the lamp in my sitting- 
room was alight, the blind was not drawn, the 
brilliant illumination within causing the wax roses 
to stand out in bold relief in the window — so bold, 
indeed, that they could be plainly seen from the 
most distant part of the great square. 

That they were placed there for some purpose I 
was convinced — what did they mean ? 

I retired to rest as usual, but could not close my 
eyes for thinking of the strange episode. There 


84 


GUILTY BONDS. 


seemed an air of mystery about the whole place that 
I did not like. 

Several minor matters now occurred to me of 
which, at the time they happened, I thought noth- 
ing ; yet as I lay thinking I confess I began to wish 
myself anywhere but in St. Petersburg. Through- 
out, there had been so much that was incomprehen- 
sible, and I had been so sorely puzzled, that I felt a 
fervent desire to give up, and seek no further eluci- 
dation of the riddle from Vera. 

The bells of the Izak Church had broken the 
silence of the night, chiming the hour of three, as I 
lay dozing, when suddenly there came a sharp rap- 
ping at the door, and voices demanding admittance. 

My first impression was that the hotel was on fire, 
but on throwing open the door, Trosciansky and 
two other men entered. 

What is the meaning of this .? ” I demanded. 

“Hist! m’sieur,” he replied, laying his finger 
upon his lips, indicative of silence. Then he said 
in a low voice : 

“Quick! Prepare yourself for a journey; the 
police are on their way here, and will arrest you ! 
Make your escape, now you have time.” 

“What ” I cried, rubbing my eyes to make cer- 
tain I was not dreaming. “To arrest me ! What 
for, pray .? ” 

“ M’sieur must be aware. Lose no time, you 


GUILTY BONDS. 


85 

must get out of Russia at once, or all will be lost,” 
he said in a loud whisper, while the other men gave 
vent to some ejaculations in Russian. 

“I have committed no crime,” I said, “and I 
certainly shall not fly from here like a thief. The 
police may come, and I will welcome them.”- 

“ Fly ! fly ! ’’ urged the man, with a look of alarm 
upon his face ; “fly for Vera Seroff’s sake ! ” 

‘ ‘ What has she to do with this } ” I asked eagerly. 

“You know, m’sieur ; you know. It will place 
her in deadly peril if you are arrested. Fly, while 
there is still time.” 

“ But the police cannot touch me ; I have no fear 
of them,” I remarked, just as a thought suddenly 
occurred to me. 

Where was my passport, that paper without which 
no one in Russia is safe, not even Russians them- 
selves ? I took up my coat and felt in the inner 
pocket where I constantly kept it. 

It was gone ! 

My valise, the pockets of other coats, every hole 
and corner I investigated, but found it not. It was 
evidently lost or stolen ! 

Then a thought crossed my mind. 

“Take our advice, m’sieur ; dress and escape,” 
said Trosciansky, persuasively. 

“No, I will not,” I cried angrily. “I see this is 
a plot to extort money — or something. My pass- 


86 


'GUILTY BONDS. 


port has been stolen, and I shall myself inform the 
police to-morrow, and also of my suspicions regard- 
ing this house. ” 

Liable r' he ejaculated, in the utmost alarm, as 
at that moment there was a sound of a door open- 
ing and heavy footsteps below! 

Hark 1 They are here ! It is too late.” 

I opened my lips to reply, but no sound came 
from them. I have a faint recollection of a sponge 
being dashed into my face by one of the hotel- 
keeper’s companions, then came a strange, even de- 
lightful sensation of giddiness, a confused murmur 
of voices, of music, of pleasant sounds, — and all 
was blank. 

I had been drugged. 


GUILTY BONDS. 


87 


CHAPTER XI. ' 

THE CELL BELOW THE RIVER. 

A TERRIBLE, cxcruciating headache of maddening 
intensity, a violent throbbing, as if molten lead were 
being injected into my skull ; a horrible pain through 
my eyes and temples like the pricking of red-hot 
needles. 

I tried to think, but could remember nothing dis- 
tinctly ; I was only conscious of frightful agony. To 
all else I was oblivious. Where I was, or what 
were my surroundings, I knew not. 

My mind was wandering, my reason giving way, 
for suddenly I felt a sensation as if the burning in 
my head had been succeeded by an icy coldness 
which seemed to freeze my senses ; and then, as 
suddenly, I felt as if I were being borne along in 
mid-air, floating higher and.higher into space, then 
down, down, into depths too terrible to contemplate. 
In a moment I should be dashed to pieces. I felt I 
was falling and utterly unable to save myself. 

The sensation was awful, 

One moment I fancied I was in London, amid old 


88 


GUILTY BONDS. 


associations and boon companions, the next I 
seemed in some out-of-the-way place, lonely and 
forgotten. Presently I saw the grave, beautiful face 
of Vera, and then it gave place to that of a middle- 
aged man, whose sinister features puckered into a 
hideous mocking smile. 

I tried to collect my thoughts, to shape them, to 
think ; but it was no use. 

The pains returned more acutely than before. 
I essayed to cry out, but my dry, parched tongue 
clave to the roof of my mouth. I felt weak and ill, 
and my agony was go intense I was convinced if it 
continued I should go mad or die. 

Perhaps it grew too much for me, for as the throb- 
bing in my temples increased, I experienced a sick- 
ening sensation of giddiness, and again became in- 
sensible. 

I must have fainted. 

Slowly I struggled back to consciousness, only to 
find myself stretched at full length upon a heap of 
mouldy straw, with a black, impenetrable darkness 
around me. The place was cold and damp, and as 
soon as I was able I rose and commenced to feel 
the dimensions of my strange apartment. 

It was not large, I found, but its four bare stone 
walls, through which water oozed in places, the 
large iron ring fixed into the masonry, and the strong 
iron-bound door, quickly apprised me of my position. 


GUILTY BONDS. 


89 


I was in prison. 

Awe-struck at finding myself under arrest, I sank 
upon the narrow stone shelf which served as chair, 
and tried to recollect the events of the past few 
hours. I knew nothing, save that I had been 
drugged, and by some means conveyed there. 
What was my crime t Why had I been arrested .? I 
wondered. 

Through the roof of the cell came a tiny glimmer 
of light, not half sufficient to enable me to discern 
anything, though it was evident from this, as well 
as from the sodden dampness of the walls, that my 
place of confinement was underground. 

The horrors of that Dantean dungeon were inde- 
scribable. Before I had lodged at the expense of the 
Russian Government a few days, the fearful sus- 
pense and agony of mind had already added years 
to my age. 

As I sat, desponding and forlorn, I experienced 
for the first time, regret that I had ever known Vera 
Seroff. All my good resolutions not to prejudge 
her went to the winds, and I found myself regretting 
from the bottom of my heart that I, who had passed 
unscathed through many a mad infatuation, had per- 
mitted myself to become so enamored and fasci- 
nated by her irresistible charms. 

Fool that I was to be so blind to her false assump- 
tion of injured innocence, to believe that she ever 


90 


GUILTY BONDS. 


entertained any affection for me, or to imagine that 
by undertaking a journey across the continent I 
could render her a service. 

And that crotchety old bore, Hertzen. Surely I 
must have been wilfully undiscerning not to have 
detected a closer tie between them. No doubt she 
was his wife, or, yet more probable — no relation 
whatever. 

I ground my teeth and paced the slimy stone 
floor in anger as I thought how ingeniously I had 
been tricked ; how from the beginning I had been 
an unresisting dupe in the hands of a heartless, 
designing woman. She must indeed be sadly 
wanting in womanly love and tenderness to be a 
party to this vile plot, whatever its object might 
be. Doubtless she knew of my arrest, and from her 
place of safety laughed with satisfaction as she re- 
flected upon her own cleverness. 

These and a thousand other thoughts surged 
through my brain as I walked to and fro in hopeless 
dejection. Alone, heart-broken at realizing my idol 
shattered, that she whom I believed immaculate 
and loved so dearly was base and false, I felt utterly 
indifferent to what my fate might be, only desiring 
not to be kept in that horrible suspense, but to know 
the worst. 

If it were death, what would it matter ? Though 
young, I had seen the world, tasted of its pleasures. 


GUILTY BONDS. 


91 


and grown blase. The sun of my existence was the 
hope of making Vera my wife, yet now it was blotted 
out I cared no longer to live, for my life in future 
would be one of blank despair. 

After a few hours I heard a rattling in the lock, a 
jingle of keys, and the door opened, revealing the 
brawny form of a man bearing a lantern. It was 
my jailer. 

He held in his hand a basin containing soup and 
some black bread, which he placed upon the floor 
without deigning to bestow a word upon me. 

As he turned to leave I rose and, clutching his 
arm, addressed him in French. 

Turning the light full upon my face, he took a - 
couple of paces backward, fearing perhaps that I 
was about to attack him. 

“Why am I here.? "'I asked. “Tell me, what, 
is the crime I am accused of .? ” 

He regarded me for a moment in surprise, 
answering : 

“ How should I know .? ’’ 

“But surely you are aware who brqught me 
here .? 

‘ ‘ The gorodovoi, I suppose, ” he grunted savagely. 

‘ ‘ And what is this detestable place called .? ” 

I asked. 

“The Fortress; the prison from which no man 
has ever been known to escape.” 


92 


GUILTY BONDS. 


“Are its bolts and bars so strong ? 

‘^Yes, and there is no way out for convicts 
unless they swim the Neva,” the man replied, 
grinning with satisfaction. 

“Are you not aware of my crime.?”! asked, 
persuasively. 

“No, I know nothing about it. My business is 
not with the crime but with the criminal,” he 
growled. 

“lam an Englishman — a foreigner — and cannot 
be supposed to know your laws. Is this what you 
term justice in Russia — to imprison a man with- 
out trial .? ” 

“You have had your trial and been condemned. 
In the sentence passed upon you by the Court 
you were told the crime for which you must 
suffer.” 

* ‘ Condemned ! ” I cried. * ‘ Condemned for what ? 
Why, I have had no trial. I have never been before 
the Court ! ” 

He turned from me, and as he did so, muttered, 

“Ah! just what I thought — mad. These cells 
below the river always affect their brains. ” 

* In another moment the key turned heavily in 
the lock, the bolts shot into their sockets, and I was 
again alone. 

Was I mad, as the turnkey believed ? I was al- 
most convinced I must be, the events of the past 


GUILTY BONDS. 


93 

few hours seemed so unreal — like the impression 
of some horrible dream. 

I had been sentenced, the jailer said. Sentenced 
for what ? I had wronged no man on earth that I 
was aware of, neither had I done an evil action will- 
ingly. What was my offence, and what was my 
sentence .? 

For days I lived with this one thought, crushed 
by its terrible weight, frozen by its ghastly pres- 
ence. Not days, but years ago it seemed, since 
I was a man like any other, with an intellect young 
and fresh, losing itself in a pleasant world of fantasy, 
with buoyant hopes for the future ; an existence full 
of life and light, gayety, and unalloyed happiness, 
with naught to trouble me save the realization of my 
fond dream of marrying Vera and dwelling with her 
in perfect felicity. Joyous and free had been my 
thoughts, therefore I was free also. 

Alas ! those aerial castles, those blissful illusions, 
had been cruelly dispelled, for I was free no longer. 

I was a criminal. 


94 


GUILTY BONDS, 


CHAPTER XII. 

A SUBTERRANEAN DRAMA. 

With my wrists in bonds of iron, and my soul 
fettered by one idea — horrible, implacable — the days 
passed : I kept no count of them. 

Whilst the glimmer of daylight shone through the 
chink above I spent the time sitting engrossed in 
my own sad thoughts, or pacing the narrow cell for 
exercise. When it had faded I cast myself, restless 
and nervous, upon the heap of evil-smelling straw 
that served as bed, waiting patiently for the re- 
appearance of the streak of gray light. 

Those hours of awful silence and suspense I shall 
never forget. 

Do what I might a terrible thought, a deep-rooted 
conviction, was ever with me, like a spectre haunt- 
ing me face to face, frustrating every endeavor to 
close my eyes — it was that by Vera’s instrumentality 
I had been arrested and incarcerated in that foul 
dungeon. 

The jailer, when he brought my daily ration of food, 
seldom spoke ; but on one occasion I asked him : 


GUILTY BONDS. 


95 


“ What is my sentence ? ” 

You know better than I/’ he growled. 

“ Indeed, I do not. Tell me ; is it death ? ” 

*‘No ; the death sentence has been abolished by 
order of the Czar. Criminals are tortured to death 
instead of being killed instantaneously by hanging.” 

“And is this the commencement of my torture.?” 
I asked, glancing round the glistening walls, that 
looked black and unwholesome in the flickering 
lamp-light. 

“You may call it so, if you like,” he replied. 
“ Many prisoners would no doubt prefer the death 
sentence being passed upon them — but that the law 
now forbids.” 

“Shall I never leave this horrible place ? ” I asked. 
“ Shall I never again see the blessed light of day .? ” 

“ Yes,” he muttered, ominously, “ you will leave 
here — some day — never to return.” 

I said no more. I knew he meant that when I 
left the prison I should be dead. 

Torture till death ! This, then, was my sentence ! 

The words were continually passing through my 
brain, attacking me whilst waking, and intruding 
themselves upon my spasmodic attempts to sleep ; 
appearing in my dreams in all their hideousness. 

Even when I awakened to realize the terrible 
reality that surrounded me, those four bare walls, 
coarse clothes, straw pallet, and the monotonous 


96 G UIL TY B ONDS. 

tramp of the sentry in the corridor outside my door, 
the words rang a continuous, demoniacal chorus in 
my ears. Torture till death I 

In my solitary confinement I naturally began to 
seek some means b)^ which to occupy attention and 
divert my mind from the unjust and horrible sen- 
tence. 

One matter interested me in a dreamy, indifferent 
way. It was the inscriptions that had been traced 
upon the damp walls of my gloomy cell, presumably 
by former occupants. 

Having been in darkness so long, I had developed 
an acute sensitiveness in the tips of my fingers, 
almost in the same manner as the blind ; and for 
recreation I took to groping about, feeling the in- 
dentations upon the stone, and trying to sketch 
their appearance mentally. 

Hours — nay, days — I spent in this grim but in- 
teresting occupation, studying carefully the initials, 
dates, and other inscriptions, and after I had formed 
a correct picture in my imagination, I would sit 
down, wondering by whose hand those letters had 
been graven ; what was the prisoner’s crime ; and 
how long he had lived in that terrible tomb. 

The persons who had been confined there before 
me must have been legion, for the walls seemed 
literally covered with words and symbols, some well 
defined, others only scratched roughly and almost 


GUILTY BONDS. 


97 

obliterated by the thick slime which covered them. 
So interested was I in their study that, after a short 
time, I had gained a pretty accurate knowledge of 
the appearance and position of most of them. Some 
had written their names in full, with the date ; one 
had drawn a gallows, and many had inscribed lines 
of words like poetry, but as they were in Russian I 
was unable to read them. 

I confess, though I gave up the greater portion of 
every day to the investigation of the self-executed 
epitaphs of those who had gone before, I made but 
little progress in their meaning. 

Still, they served to occupy my time, and for that 
alone I was thankful. 

I had gone methodically to work in my strange 
researches, commencing at the door, and taking 
them one by one from the floor upwards, as far as I 
could reach. The advancement I made was not 
great ; in fact, I was purposely slow, and took a 
considerable time over the examination of each one, 
because I wanted my task to last as long as possible. 

Of those upon the sides of the cell I had formed a 
fairly distinct mental picture, and one day while 
engaged upon the wall opposite the door groping 
along as usual, my hand passed over a circular 
indentation cut deeply in the stone, which I judged 
to be about six inches in circumference. It was on 
a level with my head, and by the first touch I dis- 
7 ^ 


GUILTY BONDS. 


98 

tinguished it was entirely different from the others, 
both in form, size, and general character. 

Interested in this discovery, I proceeded to make 
a minute investigation with the tips of the fingers of 
both hands. 

There were two circles, the one inside the other, 
about an inch apart, and I felt some writing in the 
intervening space. Round the circle I ran my 
fingers ; the inscription was not profuse, only nine 
ill-formed letters. 

“The name of some prisoner, perhaps,” I said to 
myself, as I carefully passed my finger over each 
letter, and tried to picture it upon my mind. 

The first was of so strange a form that I could 
make nothing out of it, so passed on to the next. 
This seemed like a small thin line, crooked half-way 
down ; the next was straight, like a figure one, and 
the next very similar, and so on, until I came to the 
one I had examined first. 

Disappointed because I could not decipher a single 
character of what seemed hieroglyphics, I passed 
my hand over the whole in an endeavor to gain a 
general impression of it, when I found the centre of 
the circle was occupied by some large solid device. 

I felt again. It bore some resemblance to the 
letter T inverted, and then momentarily, there 
flashed across my mind the thought that I had some- 
where seen an emblem of similar appearance. 


GUILTY BONDS. 


99 


Eagerly Iran my hands over it, carefully fingering 
the centre, and trying to form a clearer idea of what 
it was like, when I suddenly recollected where I had 
met its exact counterpart. 

'‘Yes, there is no mistake,” I said in an awed 
whisper, once more fingering it in breathless ex- 
citement. 

“The characters must be the same; the centre 
is the same ; it differs in no particular. It is the 
Seal ! ” 

I stood almost terrified at the unearthly sound of 
my own words. 

Here, in this foul prison, amid all these gruesome 
surroundings, I had made a strange discovery ! 

I had deciphered an exact reproduction of the 
curious seal found upon the body of the woman 
who had been so mysteriously murdered on that 
eventful night in Bedford Place — the fatal emblem 
over which the police of Europe and America had 
been so puzzled. 

The disclosure brought vividly to my mind recol- 
lections of the murder which, by rare chance, I 
detected, and I asked myself whether Fate had 
decreed that a sketch of the seal should be graven 
upon the wall of my dungeon. 

I am neither a visionary, nor am I superstitious, 
yet it is probable that my gloomy thoughts, com- 
bined with my solitary imprisonment, the lack of 


lOO 


GUILTY BONDS. 


exercise, and the horrors of my cell, had produced 
a slight attack of fever ; for while I was musing it 
seemed as if the mystic symbols assumed divers 
grotesque shapes, the outlines of which glowed like 
fire, and that by my side were hideous grinning 
demons, who assumed a threatening attitude to- 
wards me. 

My breathing became difficult, my head swam, 
and I sank backward upon the stone seat. 

I may have been insensible, or perhaps only 
sleeping soundly, when there came a jingling of 
keys, and a harsh grating of bolts. This aroused 
me. 

“ Get up,” commanded the jailer ; “ follow me.” 

I rose, my hands trembling and my teeth chat- 
tering so that I could hardly re-arrange my 
clothes. 

What fresh torture was in store for me ? I dreaded 
to think. 

At the first step I attempted to take I staggered 
and almost fell, but recovering myself, followed the 
turnkey. 

After examining my fetters to make certain of 
their security, he led me through a long dark pas- 
sage, up a flight of steps, down another, and through 
some intricate places, little more than tunnels. Un- 
locking a door, he bade me enter. 

I did so, and found myself in a square cell, damp. 


GUIL TY BONDS. 


101 


and pitch dark, like my own. We had been joined 
by another jailer in our walk through the corridor, 
and both men entered with me. 

As the lantern-light fell upon the straw I saw the 
cell was occupied ; a man was lying there, fully 
dressed, and apparently asleep. 

Prisoner,'’ said the jailer, ‘‘take the clothes 
from off that man, dress yourself in them, and after- 
wards put your own on him.” 

“ But he will wake,” I said. 

“Do as I bid,” growled the man; “and look 
sharp ; or it will be the worse for you. ” 

For a moment I did not move. I felt dazed. 

“ Now ; do you hear ? ” cried he angrily, shaking 
me roughly by the arm. 

I stooped over the prostrate man in order to un- 
button the collar of his coarse coat, but in doing so 
my hand touched his chin. I withdrew it as if I 
had been stung, for it sent a thrill of horror through 
me. It was cold as ice. 

I was to undress a dead man ! 

“Why do you hesitate ? ” the jailer asked gruffly. 
“ Know you not that you must obey ? ” 

“This man is dead ! ” I said, in alarm. 

“And the best thing that could happen to him,” 
was the stern reply. “Now, how long am I to wait 
for you ? ” 

His companion grinned at my abhorrence of the 


102 


GUILTY BONDS. 


task, and uttered some words in Russian, which the 
other answered. 

It was plain I had to obey my heartless janitor, 
so, kneeling beside the corpse, I managed, by dint 
of some exertion, to divest it of its gray kaftan, 
strong knee boots, and sheepskin bonnet. In these 
I attired myself, afterwards dressing the corpse in 
my own clothes. 

My new garments were such as I had never seen 
before, and upon my breast was a brass plate bear- 
ing a number. 

“ Now, take these,” commanded the turnkey, 
throwing his light upon some things in a corner. 

I turned and picked them up. 

There was a rug, a mess tin, and a wooden 
spoon. 

“What am I to do with these } ” I asked. 

“You will want them upon your journey.” 

“My journey ! Where, then, am I going? ” 

“ To the mines.” 

“To Siberia !” I gasped. 

“Yes,” he answered, adding, “Come, follow 
me. ” 

I left the side of the dead prisoner and accom- 
panied him back to my own cell. 

I would have preferred death ten thousand times, 
for I knew, too well, that for the Russian convict is 
reserved that punishment which is tantamount to 


GUILTY BONDS, 


103 

death by slow torture — a living tomb in the quick- 
silver mines beyond Tomsk. When sent under the 
earth he never again sees the sunlight or breathes 
the fresh air, until a year or so afterwards when he 
is brought to the surface to die. 

Racked by the frightful pain which quicksilver 
produces, gaunt as skeletons, and with hair and eye- 
brows dropping off, convicts are kept at labor under 
the lash by taskmasters who have orders not to 
spare them, working eighteen hours at a stretch, and 
sleeping the remaining six in holes in the rock — 
mere kennels, into which they must crawl. 

A sentence of Siberian hard labor always means 
death, for the Government are well aware it is an 
absolute impossibility to live longer than five years 
in such horrible torture in the depths of the earth. 

To this terrible existence was I consigned. Was 
it surprising, therefore, that I hoped— nay, longed 
— for death instead ? 


104 


GUILTY BONDS. 


CHAPTER XIII. 

GRAVEN ON THE WALL. 

I WALKED back to my cell as one in a dream. 

Engrossed with my own reflections, I neither saw 
nor heard anything until I found myself seated alone 
in the dark, damp chamber, with the maddening 
thought of Vera’s treachery and triumph torturing 
and goading me to despair. 

I covered my face with my hands, and strove to 
forget the present and to review the past. 

As I pondered, the recollection of my childhood’s 
days came back to me. I saw the gray-haired 
stately lady, my mother, whom I loved, whose 
counsel I had ofttimes wisely taken, but who now, 
alas ! was no more. I saw myself a laughing 
schoolboy, and later, a rollicking student, one of a 
crowd in the Latin Quarter ; then a young man hard 
at work with my pen in a tall old house in one of 
the Inns of Court, burning the midnight oil and 
striving day and night towards the coveted Temple 
of Fame. 

Later, a man of ample means, and afterwards — a 
convict. 


G UIL TV B ONDS. 1 05 

Next morning, after the warder had paid his matu- 
tinal visit and I had appeased my hunger, I naturally 
turned to the inscriptions as my sole means of oc- 
cupation ; for besides being anxious for anything 
wherewith to occupy my mind, however trivial, I 
was also curious to ascertain whether the mysterious 
device upon the wall really bore a resemblance to 
the seal, or whether it was only in my distorted im- 
agination that the similarity existed. 

Without difficulty I succeeded in placing my hands 
upon the indentation, and after minule investigation 
satisfied myself I had not been mistaken. Though 
somewhat roughly executed, the symbols were ex- 
actly the same as those upon the fatal seal. 

While carefully following the lines with my finger 
tips, I felt, suddenly, what appeared to be some let- 
ters, two above the circle and two below, about an 
inch from the outer ring. At first it did not cross 
my mind that they could have any connection with 
it, for I concluded they were but the initials of two 
prisoners who had occupied the cell. 

However, when I had completed my investiga- 
tion of the inexplicable emblem which had so Iqng 
occupied my thoughts, I commenced trying to deci- 
pher the letters above. 

At first I could make nothing out of them, but by 
passing my hand carelessly along I ascertained that 
they were in the Russian character. 


io6 


GUILTY BONDS. 


Evidently they were initials. 

Fortunately, while at college I had gained a 
knowledge of the Russian alphabet, and though it 
was rather imperfect, I was prompted to make an 
attempt to discover the equivalent of the two letters 
in English. 

The task occupied me a very long time, and after 
considerable patience and perseverance I found I 
had translated the initials, although they told me 
nothing. 

The two letters cut in the stone above were 

^‘N. S.'’ 

I stood motionless for a few minutes, almost un- 
able to give credence to the solution of the puzzle ; 
then went carefully over the two signs again. 

No ; I was not mistaken. 

"‘N. S.,” I repeated to myself aloud, almost 
breathless with amazement, my heart beating quickly, 
and sounding distinctly in the tomb-like silence of 
my dungeon. “ The initials of some unfortunate 
man who perhaps, like myself, was confined here 
for some crime he did not commit.” 

Whose was the hand that traced the deadly sign, 
and the initials ? This was the question I vainly 
asked myself. 

“ Perhaps the letters below will throw some light 
upon this ghastly secret,” I said aloud, as I com- 
menced to feel the two characters underneath the 


GUILTY BONDS. 


107 

desigri. They were well-shaped and deeply cut, so 
I had not so much difficulty as with those above. 

I may be about to solve the enigma of the seal,” 
I reflected, as, in intense excitement, I took one 
letter after the other and thought of its correspond- 
ing letter in English. 

I soon deciphered them, and found the initials 
were ‘‘S. O.” 

The discovery caused me much disappointment, 
for beyond the assumption that a certain person 
whose initials were N. S. had been imprisoned in the 
cell, together, perhaps, with a comrade whose initials 
were S. O., who had possibly sketched the obscure 
hieroglyphics, I was no nearer the solution of the 
device than before. 

It might have been inscribed a dozen, perhaps a 
hundred, years ago — before the seal had become 
synonymous of death — for aught I knew. 

So intent was I in endeavoring to feel other names 
or devices near this particular one that I failed to no- 
tice the opening of my cell door, and when I became 
aware of the lantern light behind me I turned and 
saw a Cossack officer standing upon the threshold. 

He stepped forward and was about to enter, but 
suddenly, as if on second thought, he drew back 
and pulled up the broad collar of his riding-coat about 
his neck, so as to partially hide his face before 
entering. 


io8 


GUILTY BONDS. 


Advancing, and turning the lamplight full upon 
my face, he gazed into it fixedly for several seconds, 
his own countenance being concealed by the 
shadow. Then, without speaking, he went across 
the cell and commenced examining the wall, appar- 
ently to ascertain in what pursuit I was engaged 
when he entered. 

He cast his eyes along the wall, when he suddenly 
gave vent to a low exclamation of profound surprise, 
not unmingled with horror, and holding his lantern 
on a level with the inscription, scrutinized it minutely 
for some minutes, at the same time muttering to 
himself. 

From his movements, and the agitation which he 
strove to suppress, it was evident he, too, had made 
a startling discovery ; and I stood wondering what 
there was about it that interested him so much. 

He looked at me several times, and though his 
face was always in the shade I could see that in his 
eyes was a peculiar expression. Twice he returned 
and examined the inscription, as if to rivet it upon 
his memory and to satisfy himself he was not mis- 
taken ; then he turned, and, addressing mein French, 
said : 

“Prisoner, prepare yourself. We start to-mor- 
row. ” 

To Siberia ? ” I asked. 

“Yes; make the best of your last nighfs rest,"' 


GUILTY BONDS, 


109 

he replied in a strange hoarse voice, and went out, 
leaving me again to my gloomy reflections. 

For hours I sat, asking myself what this could 
mean. The initials, in conjunction with the seal, 
served to increase the mystery, and the agitation of 
the officer when his gaze fell upon it clearly showed 
the grim symbol was repulsive to him,- although the 
cruel light in his eyes caused me to conjecture that 
it revealed to him some awful truth that had hitherto 
been hidden. 

But why need I exercise my mind upon trying to 
solve this inscrutable problem, I thought, when on 
the morrow I should start upon my terrible journey 
to the grave 1 

Aye, what was the use ? 


no 


GUILTY BONDS. 


CHAPTER XIV. 

EN ROUTE FOR THE MINES. 

At last the day — or rather night — arrived, when 
the gates of the Citadel opened, allowing myself 
with thirty other prisoners to pass out upon the first 
stage of the weary two months'* tramp to that bourne 
whence few convicts ever return. 

We were a sorry, smileless band of criminals of 
all classes, each dressed alike aftid bearing a number, 
our hands fastened behind our backs, and chained 
together in single file. 

Slowly we passed through the great iron gates, 
and turning, crossed theTroitskoi Bridge, our escort 
of mounted Cossacks cracking their long whips, and 
with lanterns tied to their lance-points examining 
the road continually, in search of any letters which 
might be dropped. It was a weird, dismal proces- 
sion, as we trudged on through the streets made 
sloppy by the melting snow, and the clanking of 
chains, the cracking of whips, the shouts of the 
soldiers, and the rumbling of the springless carts in 
the rear for those who might fall ill by the way, 
awoke the echoes of the silent thoroughfares. 


GUILTY BONDS. 


Ill 


A few belated pleasure-seekers, some in fancy- 
dress, who were evidently returning from a ball, 
stopped to watch us pass, but no one was allowed 
to come near us, for the Cossacks warned them off. 

In this way we passed across the slumbering city 
and out upon the broad, bleak highway on our 
journey eastward to the Ourals. It commenced 
to rain in torrents, and soon all of us were wet and 
uncomfortable, but through the long night we 
marched onward in dogged silence. Conversation 
was forbidden, and those who had spoken had felt 
the thong of the escort’s whip about his shoulders. 

The convict to whom I was chained I recognized 
as the guide who had conducted me over the Winter 
Palace. What was his crime I knew not, but he 
plodded on, with a settled look of terror on his face, 
and the sighs that frequently escaped him plainly 
showed what were his feelings at being exiled from 
his native land. 

His was not the face of a criminal, but rather that 
of one who had been unjustly condemned, as I had 
been. 

Our wet clothes clung to us as we walked, our 
feet splashed through great pools at every step, and 
the icy wind that blew across the wide level high- 
way chilled our very bones, greatly adding to our 
discomfort. 

We must have walked six hours, for as the day 


112 


GUILTY BONDS. 


dawned, cloudy and gray, we saw in the distance 
the wooden houses of Jjora, and half an hour later 
were drawn up in a line in the open space before the 
little church. 

Here our fetters were removed ; but in the mean- 
time the news had spread through the village that a 
convict convoy was on the march, and the inhab- 
itants, tpking compassion upon us, crowded round 
with steaming tureens of tschi, piles of new bread, 
and jugs of vodki. They were not allowed to ap- 
proach us, however, and were compelled to set their 
offerings at the roadside and retire. 

The pity felt for Siberian exiles is universal, and 
even the Cossacks seemed to have some sympathy 
for us poor wretches, as they allowed us to partake 
freely of what the kind-hearted peasants offered. 

I was almost exhausted by the long tramp, and 
ate ravenously. As soon as we had appeased our 
hunger, we were marched inside the church to attend 
a parting mass and hear a brief sermon. 

As we knelt, the priest went through the ritual, 
afterwards giving us an address, urging submission 
and penitence, as well as extolling the Czar's clem- 
ency most likely ; but as I was unable to understand 
a word, I was spared this canting hypocrisy, and 
was glad when the grim farce was over and we had 
left the sacred building. 

Soon we were upon our way again, and through- 


GUILTY BONDS. 


out the day trudged wearily onward. With a thick 
pine forest on each side of the road, the journey re- 
sembled a sea voyage, one spot so much like another 
that we always seemed to remain in the same place. 

We had no chains to trouble us now ; but though 
permission had been given to talk, all desire for con- 
versation had gone out of us, so jaded and weary 
were we. Without a halt, we pushed on until long 
after daylight had faded, and when at last a rest 
was made we prepared to bivouac in the forest. 

A large fire was lit, some biscuits and salt beef 
served out, and then, with nothing further to pro- 
tect us from the frost than our greatcoats and rugs, 
w^e flung ourselves upon the ground and sought 
repose. 

I was exhausted and soon fell asleep. I must have 
continued so for several hours, when suddenly I 
felt a hand upon my cheek, and in the fitful light 
thrown by the dying embers of the fire, saw a Cos- 
sack bending over me. 

All was quiet, save for the shadowy forms of the 
sentries, who paced quietly to and fro among the 
surrounding trees. 

As I awoke, the man at my side placed his finger 
significantly upon my lips, whispering in broken 
English, ‘‘Don’t utter a word, but listen; Frank 
Burgoyne, remember what I am about to tell you. 
Be brave, and you may escape. ” 


i 1 4 GUIL TV BONDS. 

“Escape !” I ejaculated, rubbing my eyes, half- 
believing that I must be dreaming. “ How can I ? ” 

‘ ‘ The matter is simple if you follow my directions ; 
but it will require nerve and firm determination. If 
you falter you are lost. ” 

“Tell me, how can it be done I whispered, 
eagerly. 

He bent so closely that, although his face was 
unrecognizable in the darkness, I could feel his 
breath. Placing his mouth to my ear he said : ‘ ‘ To- 
morrow afternoon we shall pass through a small 
village called Podberesa. A mile after leaving it, 
we shall come to cross-roads, and there you will see 
a two-horse sleigh awaiting you, the driver of which 
will have a red ribbon upon his whip. Be on the 
watch, and when close to it make a dash between 
the guards, jump in, and you will be driven to the 
coast, where you can get away to England. In the 
sleigh you will find the dress of a courier, and a 
passport which will ensure your safety. ” 

“ But the escort ; they will fire ! ” I exclaimed in 
amazement. 

“There are no ‘buts.’ Time does not permit of 
reflection. Do as I bid, and you will not be harmed, ” 
he said. 

“You are my friend, then ? 

“No, scarcely that. My duty is to take you to 
the mines.” 


GUILTY BONDS. 


I15 

“ Then why do you tell me how to escape? ” 

“There is reason in most things that we do.” 

“And what is your reason for this?” I asked. 
“Perhaps you can explain why I have been kept in 
that horrible prison without trial, and why I, an Eng- 
lishman, should be sent to Siberia for no offence 
whatever ? ” ’ 

“Yes, yes,” he replied, “I am aware of all this. 
But hush ! The guards are changing. Remember 
all I have said ; make your dash for liberty with a 
stout heart, and when you return to London all will 
be explained. Adieu, and hon voyage.’' 

The man crawled noiselessly away, but as he 
lifted himself upon his hands the fire threw out a 
flicker of light which fell upon his features. It was 
only momentarily and then died away, yet in that 
brief second I detected a close — even striking — re- 
semblance to some one I had seen before. 

He slipped away without a sound, just as the 
sentry passed ; nevertheless for a long time I lay 
awake trying to recollect where I had seen the sol- 
dier’s face before. 

At last I felt positive the voice was the same as 
that of the officer who had visited me in the cell, yet 
what motive he could have in planning my escape, 
I could not guess. Then again I felt sure the face 
resembled some one I had known intimately, or had 
cause to remember. Suddenly it dawned upon me. 


ii6 


GUILTY BONDS. 


The face was similar to that of the man I had seen 
leaving the house in Bedford Place ! 

The next day passed much as the preceding one, 
though with considerable excitement and anxiety I 
prepared myself for my bold attempt to regain free- 
dom. It was late in the afternoon that we passed 
through the village, and it was fast growing dusk 
when the object for which I was straining my eyes 
came into view — a sleigh, the driver of which had 
the reins and whip gathered up in the act of starting. 

The critical moment arrived. 

Just as we were passing, I slipped out of the ranks, 
and made a sudden dash, falling headlong into the 
vehicle. The fall saved me. 

I heard the word of command. A dozen shots 
rang out. But in a few seconds we were flying at a 
furious rate along the smooth highway in an oppo- 
site direction. It was an exciting moment, but I did 
not lose my nerve. 

“ Don’t be alarmed,” said the driver, in English ; 
‘‘ the guards dare not leave the prisoners, and we 
shall beat them easily. Dress as quickly as you 
can, for by this time to-morrow we must be at 
Viborg. ” 

I found the clothes, and exchanged my convict’s 
dress for them. In the pockets were a passport and 
a purse well filled with roubles. When dressed, I 
settled myself to think. With relays of horse at 


GUILTY BONDS. 


117 

every post-station, we travelled all that night. Next 
evening we drove into Viborg. 

I questioned the driver, but he would not tell me 
by whom he had been engaged. 

“You have been wronged, and reparation must 
be made,” was all he replied. 

By no ingenious questioning could I elicit any 
particulars as to who was instrumental in scheming 
my escape, for to all my inquiries he was dumb, al- 
though he appeared fully cognizant of my adventures 
since I had been in Russia. 

On arrival at Viborg I lost no time in searching 
for a ship, and, to my relief, found one leaving for 
Hull in a few hours. I exhibited my passport as an 
official courier, obtained a berth, and before the next 
day dawned had the satisfaction of watching the 
lights of the Russian port disappear at the stern. 


ii8 


GUILTY BONDS. 


CHAPTER XV. 

AN OMINOUS INCIDENT. 

On the evening of the day after my return to 
London, I was passing down the Strand, intending 
to seek Bob Nuge?5t at the Junior Garrick. 

The utmost excitement was prevalent. 

Something startling had been published in the 
evening papers. Dozens of newsboys were rushing 
about amongst the throng of foot-passengers crying 
‘‘Spe-shall! ’nother ’orrible murder!” Every one 
was purchasing copies, reading them in doorways 
and under street lamps, and my curiosity being 
aroused at the unusual commotion, I did likewise. 

Opening the paper, my eye caught the bold head- 
lines, “ The Mystic Seal again. Another Mysterious 
Murder.” 

The account was too long to be read in the street, 
so turning into the nearest restaurant, and flinging 
myself into a chair, I read it from beginning to 
end ; for I, of all men, was interested in these almost 
superhuman crimes. 

Briefly told, they were the details of a curious but 
atrocious crime, committed with great daring. 


GUILTY BONDS. 


I19 

Shortly before one o'clock that morning, a constable 
on his beat, while passing through Angel Court, 
Drury Lane, noticed the form of a woman lying in 
the shadow of a doorway. He at first thought it 
was one of the wanderers so numerous in that neigh- 
borhood, and was about to rouse her, when he was 
horrified to discover that she was dead, and that 
blood was flowing from a deep wound in her 
throat. 

% 

The body was in a pool of blood, and it appeared 
as if the fatal gash had been inflicted with a razor. 
The officer at once gave the alarm, and within a few 
minutes several other constables were on the spot, 
as well as the divisional surgeon. Nothing could 
be ascertained in the neighborhood regarding the 
murdered woman, who was aged about twenty-five. 
But on the body being removed to the mortuary, 
there was discovered pinned to the breast, and soaked 
through with blood, a small piece of paper which 
had evidently borne the repulsive seal. Although 
the latter had been torn off, a portion of the wax still 
remained. 

The narrow passage in which the murdered 
woman had been found was little frequented, it 
being extremely secluded, and, except at the outer 
portion, the houses were not inhabited. 

How the deed could have been committed without 
any sounds having been heard by those who lived 


120 


GUIL TY BONDS. 


near was regarded as a mystery by all who knew 
the neighborhood, and, of course, there were the 
usual wild rumors afloat as to the probable identity 
of the murdered woman. 

In a leading article, the journal said : 

“It seems pretty certain that this last Atrocity 
must be ranked with the others. Committed with 
the same startling rapidity, with the same dis- 
heartening absence of traceable clues, this latest 
crime was probably perpetrated by the same scoun- 
drel or maniac as the one who horrified and puzzled 
the world last year. The murderer goes about his 
work with much deliberation, and effects his escape 
with great skill, and even takes time and trouble in 
pinning the cabalistic sign of the seal to the breast 
of his victim. The meaning of that sign it is impos- 
sible to tell. We have steadily asserted, before and 
after the occurrence of these murders, that the police 
force of London is not adequate in numbers to the 
duties imposed upon it. It is the business of the 
police, if it cannot prevent crime, at least to detect 
it.” 

It was the eighth murder, and still the authorities 
were as far off bringing the guilty one to justice as 
they were when the first victim was discovered. 

After eagerly reading the report I placed the news- 
paper aside and sat in silent meditation. There was 
something so curious, almost supernatural, in these 


GUILTY BONDS. 


I2I 


crimes, that I could not reflect without a shudder 
upon the horrors of that night a few months before 
when I was instrumental in bringing the previous 
work of the mysterious assassin to light. Every 
detail of that terrible crime surged through my brain 
as plainly as if it were but yesterday, and the face 
of the man who left the house, and whom I followed 
I could see as vividly as if he were still before me, 
for his features were graven too deeply upon my 
memory to be ever effaced. 

I sat utterly dumbfounded. The problem was 
growing even more complicated, for it struck me as 
something more than a strange coincidence that the 
Bedford Place murder should have been committed 
immediately before I left London, and that the 
murderer should have thought fit not to add another 
victim to his ghastly list until immediately upon my 
return. 

Somehow I could not help feeling convinced there 
must be some occult reason in this. 

On the former occasion I had carefully studied the 
theories put forward, especially that urged by an 
eminent medical man, that the murderer was a 
homicidal maniac. This, I felt assured, was totally 
wrong. Tho man the doctor had in his mind was a 
type well known to those who have made a special 
study of murder-madness. But such a man does not 
work with the skill displayed by this assassin — he 


122 


GUILTY BONDS. 


does not arrange his entrance, his “picture,” his 
exit, so carefully. Misdirected enthusiasm may 
prompt to murder, but it does not run side by side 
with cunning deliberation and desire for effect. 

No ! I maintained in my own mind that when, if 
ever, the author of the murders was arrested, he 
would be found to be a man who was perfectly sane, 
and who had gloated over the extraordinary skill 
with which he had thrown the London detective 
force off the scent. 

I did not seek Nugent that night, but returned to 
my rooms, and sat far into the early hours, solilo- 
quizing upon the mystery. 

At last, wearied out, I rose, and, taking down a 
pipe, filled it. There was a mirror over the mantel- 
shelf, and as I .was in the act of lighting my pipe, I 
caught sight of a countenance in the glass, and 
paused to reflect. The vesta burned down till it 
scorched my fingers ; but, fascinated by what I saw, 
I stood motionless, staring into the glass. 

It was not upon the reflection of myself that I 
gazed, but on the face of the man I had seen coming 
from the house in Bedford Place ! 

I am aware there are some events in our lives, of 
which each circumstance and surrounding detail is 
indelibly impressed upon the mind, and, on reflec- 
tion, it was easy to account for this strange and 
startling fantasy. So petrified had my- mind been 


GUILTY BONDS. 


123 


during the past few hours, that, in my imagination, 
the image of my own facial expression closely 
resembled his. Still, there was yet another more 
urgent aspect, which caused me to consider seriously. 
Such a freak of the mental faculties I had never 
before experienced ; nevertheless, I knew the symp- 
tom to be precursory of madness. 

Was I doomed to insanity ? 

Sinking back into a chair and smoking my pipe, I 
calmly reviewed the situation. My inner conscience 
seemed to tell me — though, to this day, I have 
never been able to account for it — that the key to 
the mystery was in my hands. By mere chance — 
or was it Fate.? — I had discovered one of the mur- 
derer’s victims, and had seen the miscreant himself 
leave the house — a man whom I should be able to 
identify anywhere. No one else had seen him, I 
argued with myself, so it was a duty towards my 
fellow-men to bring him to the punishment he so 
well merited. That is what conscience urged me as 
I sat smoking through the long night, and before the 
dawn I had wMde up my mind again to try my hand 
at elucidating the fearful mystery, and spare no 
effort towards its accomplishment. 

With that object, I obtained permission of the 
police next morning, and viewed the body which 
was in the mortuary awaiting identification. It lay 
in the chilly chamber, stretched upon the dark slate 


124 


GUILTY BONDS. 


slab, the face covered vrith a 'white cloth. This the 
constable removed, revealing the features of a dark, 
rather handsome, young -woman, evidently of the 
poorer class, and a denizen of that quarter of the 
city. 

As I gazed upon the body I wondered who she 
was. What was she ? What was her history ? 
Could even such a plebeian woman be missed by 
her friends, and no inquiries made after her ? It 
seemed almost incredible, yet it was so ; for when 
the coroner held his inquiry a few days later, she 
had not been identified, so the verdict of “Murder 
was given, photographs were taken of the dead 
unknown — one of which I have before me as I write 
— and she was conveyed to her last resting-place in 
Nunhead Cemetery. 

It was no isolated case. Every year numbers of 
bodies of men and women are found by the London 
police and buried unclaimed, at the expense of the 
parish ; until one is at a loss to know where are the 
relatives of the unfortunate ones that they make 
no sign, and take no trouble to make known their 
loss. 

It is one of Babylon’s unfathomable mysteries. 

For days — nay, weeks — afterwards, I continu- 
ally devoured the information contained in the 
newspapers regarding the eighth murder, but the 
victira remained unidentified ; and although I 


GUILTY BONDS. 


^25 

frequented the busiest haunts of men in the City 
and its immediate suburbs at all hours of the day 
and night, in the hope of meeting the murderer, 
my efforts were so dispiritingly futile that more 
than once I was sorely tempted to give up in despair. 


126 


GUILTY BONDS. 


CHAPTER XVI. 

FACING THE INEVITABLE. 

Though I had been in London nearly tw^o months 
I had heard nothing of Vera, and her explanation of 
my imprisonment, as promised by the Cossack, had 
not been made. 

I had some misgivings, it is true, for I could not 
help feeling that, having used me to execute her 
strange commission, she would trouble me no 
further ; and as the days went by, and I received 
neither letter nor visit, my conviction was strength- 
ened that such was the case. 

A wet, cheerless night, one of those soaking rains 
with which dwellers in the metropolis are too well 
acquainted. Business London had brought a day's 
work to a close, the 'buses were filled to overflow- 
ing, the shops were putting up their shutters, and 
the strings of dripping humanity waiting at pit doors 
of theatres were anathematizing the management of 
places of amusement for not opening earlier, as a 
hansom deposited Nugent and myself before the 
Gaiety Theatre, where a new burlesque was that 
night to be produced. 


GUILTY BONDS. 


127 

A contrast to the rain and mud outside was the 
interior of the theatre. Warm, bright, and com- 
fortable were stalls and boxes, filled with “fair 
women and brave men,” the bright dresses and 
glittering jewels of the former contrasting well with 
the dull red shade with which the place was deco- 
rated and adding a brilliancy and luxury to the 
whole. The production of the piece had long been 
talked of, and the event had the effect of bringing 
together a number of professional first-nighters and 
leading lights of the literary and musical world, not 
forgetting the fair sprinkling of Bohemians who are 
always the welcome guests of the management on 
such occasions. 

Soon after we had found our stalls the conductor’s 
hdion waved, the overture was played, and the cur- 
tain rose. 

The first act had concluded when I stood up to 
nod to several people present whom I knew, and 
in casting my eyes around the boxes I was at- 
tracted to one in which sat a young and hand- 
somely dressed lady, alone. As I looked, our eyes 
met. 

. It was Vera ! 

Apparently she had been watching me, for with 
a pleasant smile of recognition, she beckoned me 
with her fan. 

At that moment Bob noticed her, and nodding 


128 


GUILTY BONDS. 


towards her, whispered, “By Jove! old fellow, 
who’d have thought of meeting the fair Russian ? 
The world isn’t so large, after all. Shall you go up 
and speak } ” 

I glanced upwards in hesitation. She was lean- 
ing from the box, the diamonds in her hair flashing 
under the gaslight, and she beckoned anxiously. 
This decided me, and I went in search of her, with 
a feeling — half of the old love, and half of a newly- 
born distrust. 

I was not long in finding her box, and as I 
entered, her maid, who was her only companion, 
went out. 

Retiring into the shadow, so as not to be ob- 
served by the people below, she stretched forth her 
hand and, with a glad smile, exclaimed, “At last, 
Frank — quel plaisir ! 

I drew back, and was ungallant enough not to 
take the proffered hand, for had I not been duped 
by her and nearly lost my liberty and life ? 

“Ah I ” she said in a hoarse whisper, “it is as I 
expected, Frank — we are no longer friends.” 

I “Why should we be .? ” 

“ I know I am unworthy a thought, having acted 
as basely as I did ; but it was not my fault. It 
could not be avoided,” she said, casting her eyes to 
the floor. 

“And that is the way you reciprocate my affec- 


GUILTY BONDS. 


129 


tion ! You send me upon an errand so dangerous 
that it nearly costs me my life ! '' I remarked, 
bitterly. 

“No, no! Do not judge me harshly," she 
pleaded, laying her hand upon my coat-sleeve, and 
looking into my face imploringly. “Wait until I 
can explain before you condemn me. I know you 
think me a scheming, cold-hearted adventuress ; 
perhaps I was when I met you ; but now — it is 
different. " 

“ Vera," I said, endeavoring to be firm, “ it pains 
me, but I must put an end to this interview. I was 
foolish to seek you thus, but it was only to con- 
front you for the last time that I obeyed. I have 
loved you fondly, madly, but you have — there — I 
could never trust you again ; so, for the future, we 
must be as strangers. " 

“You are cruel, Frank," she said, the tears well- 
ing in her eyes. “It is merciless of you not to 
hear my version of the matter, although I own ap- 
pearances are much against me. The vilest crim- 
inal is allowed to make a defence ; surely you will 
not debar me from it 1 ” 

She looked beseechingly at me, her face blanched 
and betraying the struggle going on within. 

“But you cannot tell me here," I said, somewhat 
softened by her repentance. 

“No; my uncle will be out to-morrow evening, 

9 


GUILTY BONDS. 


130 

come to me then/’ she replied, producing a visiting 
card, upon which she scribbled an address. "‘We 
are living at Richmond. If you cannot come, may 
I meet you ? ” 

Taking the card, I said, “Very well, you shall 
explain matters if you wish. I will call to-morrow. ” 

“Do,” she implored; “I am sure I shall be able 
to satisfy you that I am not so very much to 
blame.” 

We then shook hands and parted, for the orchestra 
having finished playing, the curtain had risen, and 
the theatre was too quiet to allow further conversa- 
tion. 

I returned to my seat, but on glancing up five 
minutes afterwards, saw that Vera was not in her 
box, and concluded that the burlesque had no longer 
any attraction for her. 

Nugent’s inquiries after her health and well-being 
I answered satisfactorily, though I, myself, could 
not sit out the play, and returned home long before 
it was over. 

I need not dwell upon the fearful suspense and 
mental torture in which that night was spent. 
Suffice it to say it was a period that seemed inter- 
minable, for my heart was racked by an intensity 
of emotion which can scarcely be conceived. The 
sight of Vera, in all her bewitching loveliness of old 
when we passed those happy days at Genoa, had 


GUILTY BONDS. 


131 

awakened, with a thousand-fold energy, my love. 
Deceived as I imagined myself to' have been, the 
one absorbing passion of my existence had still 
lived, in spite of all attempts to smother and subdue 
it by reason’s aid. One word from Vera, one look 
from those eyes into my own, had again laid me 
a captive at her feet, although I despised — hated — 
myself for what seemed mere weakness. 

I knew it was a farce to seek an explanation, for, 
whatever it might be, I was ready to accept it. 
My heart could not be hardened against Vera. 
And then, should she in verity explain the mystery 
which hung around us both, that would mean the 
dawn of better days and brighter hopes. 


132 


GUILTY BONDS, 


CHAPTER XVII. 

THE TERRACE, RICHMOND. 

With a beating heart and a firm determination to 
be strong, I was ushered on the following afternoon 
into the drawing-room of one of that terrace of large 
houses that stand on the summit of Richmond Hill, 
overlooking what was at that time the grounds of 
Buccleuch House, but which have lately been 
thrown open as public gardens. 

It was a pleasant room, the windows of which 
commanded a fine view of the picturesque valley, 
where, deep down, the river, like a silvery streak, 
winds in and (mt the mass of foliage. Undoubtedly 
it is the prettiest scene within many miles of London, 
and that day Father Thames was looking his best in 
the glories of a setting sun, whose rays now gilded 
the sail of a tiny craft dropping down with the tide, 
and anon lighted up some snorting tug or shrieking 
pleasure-launch. 

Scarcely had I time to glance round when the 
door opened and Vera entered. 

She looked even more lovely than I had ever 
before seen her, dressed in a tea-gown of cream 
lace over vieux rose satin, with a loose front and 


GUILTY BONDS. 


133 


train, showing the pale rose satin lining, her waist 
being encircled by a curious girdle. It suited her 
admirably, and as she walked across the room with 
a smile of glad welcome upon her lips and her hand 
outstretched, I confess my heart was softened 
towards her. 

There was an indefinable air — it might be of 
anxiety about her, however, as if she were afraid 
that what she had to say would not be convincing 
to me ; and it was plainly to be seen that she, too, 
had spent a night of sleeplessness. 

“Well, Frank, we have met again — you did not 
forget your promise,” she said, in those soft tones 
I loved to hear, speaking slowly, perhaps timidly. 

We seated ourselves in silence. I dared not yet 
trust myself to speak. 

“Last night I said I would give you the reason 
of my apparent fourherie. ” 

She paused, and toyed with her rings. She was 
waiting for me to answer. 

“Yes,” I said; “ I am listening.” 

She looked up hastily ; my voice was not en- 
couraging. 

“It was imperative Frank, that you should be 
sent to Petersburg — and — it was for your own 
sake ” 

“For my sake ! ” I exclaimed. 

“Yes, Frank,” she replied ; “and it was only for 


134 


GUILTY BONDS. 


that and for your future happiness and our ” 

she paused, while a vivid blush mantled her hand- 
some features. 

'‘Our what ?” I demanded, almost rudely. 

“I must not say, dearest; but this you might 
know — that no harm was intended for you in any 
proceeding in which I had a hand.’’ 

“That is no answer, ’O'era,’^ I said, somewhat 
sternly. “You say this was for ‘our’ something, 
and for my future happiness ! What does it all 
mean, and why this mystery ? I’m tired of it. 
If you cannot explain, why ask me to call upon 
you } ” 

“Because, Frank — because I feel sure you would 
forgive me everything, could you know all.” 

“Is there a reason, then, that you will make no 
explanation ? ” 

“Yes, a most important one. If I could, I would 
tell you — but I cannot,” she said. 

“Yet you were aware of my arrest, my imprison- 
ment without trial, and transportation ? ” 

“True. I knew of your arrest an hour after it 
had taken place. ” 

“And it was you who planned my escape? ” 

“ It was. Had I not been successful, you would 
now be working in the Kara silver mines, enduring 
that living death which is a worse punishment than 
the gallows,” she replied, shuddering. 


GUILTY BONDS. 


135 

“ For your timely assistance in that matter I must 
thank you/’ I said. “Yet it is only fair that I 
should know the nature of my unknown offence, 
and the reason of my arrest. I presume you are 
aware of it ? ” 

“No, do not thank me, Frank. It was in my 
power to help you, and I did so. It was but my 
duty.” 

“ But why was I imprisoned ? ” I asked. 

“That I cannot tell you.” 

“Surely I have a right to demand an explanation, 
and if you do not tell me I shall place the matter 
before the English Consul, who will, perhaps, be 
able to fathom it,” I observed. 

“No, no ! ” she replied, starting up. “No, Frank, 
don’t do that, for my sake. It would implicate me 
and I should be in deadly peril. Let the subject 
rest, and request no further explanation, promise 
me that ” she urged earnestly. 

“I cannot. There is a mystery about the whole 
affair which I confess I don’t like. I came here to- 
day expecting to hear it explained, but I find you 
indisposed to tell me anything,” I replied angrily. 

“Not indisposed, Frank — unable.” 

“Unable ! Why, you admit you are fully cogni- 
zant of the facts ! ” 

“ I do, but unfortunately circumstances will not 
permit me to disclose the secret.” 


GUILTY BONDS. 


136 

There is a secret, then ? ” I ejaculated. 

“ Yes, one that must be kept at all hazards, alas ! 
Therefore promise not to cause inquiries to be made, 
or it will be myself who will be the sufferer. Do 
promise me this ? ” she implored. 

“ If what you say is true,” I replied, “ you may 
rely upon my silence, though I think, in the interests 
of our friendship, you should tell me what you know. ” 

“I wish I could. I know I am not hors de 
hldme, for I deceived you when I said I was under 
my uncle’s thrall. It is true he holds power over 
me, but not in the way I suggested. ” 

How, then .? ” 

Ah, it is part of the secret. Some day, perhaps, 
you may know — not now. I had a set purpose, in 
asking you to go to Russia to perform that commis- 
sion you so kindly undertook, yet it was in despera- 
tion that I asked you — the man who was to have 
been my husband.” 

“ And I shall bitterly remember the experience 
until my dying day,” I remarked. 

Yes ! it is only natural that you should feel dis- 
gusted at what you conceive is my treachery. It 
is but another result of the fatal step — I mean of the 
cursed circumstances in which I am placed. I can- 
not hope for your forgiveness, for I dare not explain. 
On every side,” she exclaimed disconsolately, with 
a vehement gesture of the hands, “lam watched 


GUILTY BONDS. 


137 

and surrounded, hemmed in with difficulties, abso- 
lutely prevented from ” 

“ From telling me the object for which you sent 
me to Russia, when you knew it was a dangerous 
errand, likely to cost me my life ? How can you 
expect that I should love you as I did with this ter- 
rible enigma unsolved? ” 

She remained silent. 

For a moment I thought she was on the point of 
telling me all, when, with a look of piteous appeal, 
she threw herself at my knees and raised my hands 
to her lips. 

“ Frank,'’ she murmured, so low that it was only 
by bending forward that I could catch the words, 
“ why do you ask? Is it because you love me, or 
— or — is it from mere curiosity you inquire ? " 

“ Because I love you, Vera." 

“Then," raising her beautiful face to my own, 
with a smile of hope, “ then — trust me, Frank, and, 
in the future, when things have altered, you shall 
know all ! " 

“ This is trifling," I said stiffly, raising her to her 
feet. “You ask me to trust you because I love 
you ; if you care for me, why not trust me, and con- 
fide this trouble to one who would do so much for 
you ? " 

“ Cannot you wait, Frank, for — for even a short 
time? Can you never think that it was by pure 


GUILTY BONDS. 


138 

force of circumstances +hat I was compelled to prac- 
tise deceit towards you? I have known of your 
return since the day of the murder — that is — I mean 
since the first hour you set foot in England, but I 
had not the courage to face you because I knew I 
deserved forgiveness so little.” 

“ If this is all you have to say,” I responded, 
rising, and taking up my stick and hat, as if going, 
“ we may as well part. Force of circumstances 
may be compelling you to deceive me now.” 

My heart told me that Vera was wronged. As the 
cynical words fell from my lips she gave me a glance 
confirming that opinion. Standing erect, her features 
aglow with indignation, her whole frame quivering 
with excitement, she confronted me like a lioness. 

‘ ‘ Go ! ” she exclaimed, with an energy which 
made me start violently. “ Go, for we have both 
been deceived. I have been deceived, but now my 
awakening has come. Alas ! this is my reward for 
the dangers braved, the difficulties surmounted, and 
the crimes committed for your sake ! ” 

“ Stay, Vera, for Heaven’s sake ! What crimes ? ” 
“ Oh, forgive me ! What have I said ? I think 
I’m mad. Nay, question me no further, but leave 
me. Could you but know my heart, Frank, you 
would have pity — you would know that my love is 
too great, too all-absorbing, to allow me for an in- 
stant to endanger your life unnecessarily. But it is 


GUILTY BONDS. 


139 

absolutely certain I cannot tell you now, and there- 
fore ” 

I was conquered. As she paused again, in the 
midst of her anguish, and her eyes sought mine 
with an irresistible glance in which love and tender- 
ness, mingled with entreaty, struggled with hope, I 
knew that all further resistance to the spell on my 
part was useless, for Vera spoke the truth — and she 
was all the world to me. 

So I took her in my arms, and forgave her. 

And you will always trust me now, Frank ? 
she asked presently with happy and tender elation. 

“ Vera,” I said, gravely, “ I am showing my faith 
in you, am I not, by asking you to be my wife ? 
I can trust you ? ’’ 

Trust me ! ” she cried. “ Mon Dieu T' I have 
loved only one man ; it is you.” 

I bent down to kiss the pale upturned face and 
her lips met mine in a hot passionate caress, enough 
to make any man’s head reel. 

“ I will endeavor to blot out from my memory 
this strange deceit you have practised upon me,” I 
exclaimed in a low voice. 

I am thankful to you, for I’m so undeserving,” 
she cried, kissing me fondly again and again. 

“ But you must own your vindication has not 
been very satisfactory,” I said, smiling. 

“Yes, I am aware of that,” she replied, seriously. 


140 


GUILTY BONDS. 


Mais, restez tranquille. I cannot tell you all — at 
least not yet. ” 

“ Then for the present I have heard enough to 
convince me once more of your affection, Vera, and 
to each other we will be as before. You are still, 
darling, my betrothed. ” 

She did not reply, but flinging her slim white arms 
around my neck, shed tears of joy. The terrible 
anxiety as to the result of her pleading, upon which 
depended her happiness and peace of mind, had 
proved too great for her, and her pent-up feelings 
found vent in hysterical emotion. 

She clung tightly to me as I tried to soothe her, 
and presently, when she became more calm, she 
dashed away her tears. 

Before I returned to town that night she had con- 
sented to become my wife in a few months. Some 
might censure me as being rash and headstrong, 
but the truth was I had become intoxicated with her 
marvellous beauty, fascinated by her charming 
manner, just as I had been when we met by the 
Mediterranean. 

There was something undeniably strange and mys- 
terious in her religiously-guarded secret, but I felt 
assured hers was a strong, passionate, unwavering 
affection, and consequently, when I bade her good 
night, I was in the best of spirits, and hopeful of the 
future. 


GUILTY BONDS. 


141 


CHAPTER XVIII. 

UNDER THE STARS. 

Six months later. 

Vera was now my wife. After spending a bliss- 
ful honeymoon among the Cumberland Lakes we 
had taken up our abode at Elveham Dene, the home 
of my childhood, which I had inherited from my 
father. She was delighted with the old place, and, 
indeed, I myself have always been fond of it, and 
may be forgiven if I descant upon its old-world 
beauties. 

It sounds egotistical, even snobbish, nowadays, 
to talk of ancient lineage, but ours was not a mush- 
room family, for the Burgoynes have been the pos- 
sessors of the estate for the greater portion of three 
centuries. 

Six miles from the nearest railway station, Stam- 
ford, and one from the village of Blatherwyke, 
Elveham stands high up, commanding magnificent 
views across that most fertile of the midland coun- 
ties — Northamptonshire. Built when the First James 
was King, with its wings of brick and stone dress- 
ings, the centre entirely of stone shrouded by the 
ivy of years and decorated with Renaissance orna- 


142 


GUILTY BONDS. 


ments, its great charm lies in the air of unprofaned 
antiquity which surrounds it. There are no modern 
additions ; and the broad balustraded terraces, the 
quaint old flower gardens with their sundials, and 
the venerable oaks and yew-trees, all call up visions 
of sturdy white-plumed cavaliers whose talk is of 
the unhappy fight at Cheriton and the downfall of 
“ Loyalty. ” 

Through the long years the interior has been lit- 
tle changed, and contains some fine old tapestry, 
ancient furniture, and a gallery wherein hang the 
time-sombred portraits of my ancestors. 

It is a quaint old place throughout, and it was 
my delight when I brought Vera there to point out 
and explain the curiosities, odd nooks and corners, 
and relate to her its many traditions. 

The Dene itself is noteworthy, too : a long steep 
glade carpeted with turf, closed in by a wooded 
amphitheatre, which opens close to the house. 
The lower part forms a flower garden ; the w'hole 
scene, with its occasional cypresses and sunny 
patches of greensward, is Poussinesque, and strictly 
classical, belonging not to English fairies, but to 
the wood spirit of the old world. 

Beyond, a walk leads through a beech wood, the 
undergrowth of which consists of huge rhododen- 
drons. Blatherwyke may be reached by this path, 
being a shorter distance than by the high-road. 


GUILTY BONDS. 


U3 

Such was the home which, owing to a quarrel 
with my father, I had left seven years before to bat- 
tle with the world and earn my living by dint of 
sheer hard work ; the home to which I returned, 
my bride upon my arm, wealthy, happy, with a 
bright future of bliss unalloyed before me. Our 
welcome, too, was a very hearty one, possibly be- 
cause from a child I had been popular with the serv- 
ants and tenants, and since coming into possession 
of the place I had nqt stinted them. 

It was scarcely surprising that my wife should 
have been charmed with the natural and artistic 
beauties of this dear home, for they were such as 
should content any one of good sense, even though 
their tastes were fastidious. 

Mine were not. I was a happy, contented man, 
blessed with a beautiful and affectionate wife, and 
feeling glad, having at last secured the prize for 
which I risked so much. 

As she had scarcely any friends in this country we 
had been married quietly at Richmond. Monsieur 
Hertzen performed the formality of giving away his 
niece, and at the church door we left him, as we 
understood he had to leave England upon pressing 
business. On our return from the Lakes I proposed 
that we should spend the autumn at Elveham and 
invite some people for the shooting. For the win- 
ter season it was my intention to take a house in 


144 


GUILTY BONDS. 


London and introduce Vera in society, At these 
plans she expressed her utmost satisfaction, though 
she said she should be happy to live aways at Elve- 
ham. 

In peaceful contentment, without thought, devoid 
of care, the days passed pleasantly after our arrival 
home. 

As mistress, she soon set about arranging and re- 
organizing the household, and I could not fail to no- 
tice that her quiet, kindly demeanor at once endeared 
her to the servants, all of whom spoke highly of her. 

I had married her knowing absolutely nothing 
about her past, and this was a fact which she ap- 
parently had not forgotten, for on the night of our 
arrival, when we had dined, and were seated tHe-a- 
Ute in her boudoir, she rose, and coming behind my 
chair, said, — 

Frank, dear, I had no idea my future home was 
to be so beautiful a place ; it is absolutely perfect. 
Few women begin their married life in happier cir- 
cumstances than these.’" 

‘‘Was it a pleasant surprise ? ” I asked, laughing. 

“Yes, very,” she answered. “But I cannot for- 
get, dear, that you know nothing whatever about 
me. I might be a base adventuress for aught you 
know. How is it you trust me so ? ” 

“Because — why, because I love you,” I replied. 

She passed her hand lightly through my hair, as 


cmify 


U5 

she said, return I will always be true to you, 
Frank. The day will come, sooner or later, when I 
can tell you the story of my life, and much that will 
astonish you, perhaps.” 

“ And you promise there shall be no clouds to 
mar our happiness ? — clouds caused by jealousy or 
distrust, I mean.” 

“No, never. You love me truly, I know. No 
man who did not would have married me with ap- 
pearances so much against me as they were. I 
am world-weary, tired of the wandering life I have 
led, and glad to be with you here — always. I swear 
I will ever be good and faithful to you,” and a light 
of great contentment shone in her eyes. 

It was enough. I desired no more, for my cup 
of happiness was filled, and with all my heart I wor- 
shipped my wife as an angel of goodness and purity. 
Ah ! if we men could but remember that there is no 
beauty beneath the skin, that a soft tongue is not 
an outward sign of genuine affection in that crisis 
in our lives when we take a woman for our wdfe, 
how many brief fools’ paradises should we avoid, 
how many hours, nay years of trouble and unhap- 
piness, how^ much shame, how many broken hearts ! 

Alas ! my bliss was but short-lived, for very soon 
the glamour fell from my eyes, and I made discoveries 
of a nature so horrible that I would gladly have 
given all I possessed as a ransom for my freedom, 

10 


146 GtriL TV BOND$, 

Love is blind, ’tis true, but jealousy has a thou- 
sand eyes which hideously distort that which is seen, 
at the same time eating into our hearts like a cor- 
rosive acid, with results almost as dire. Yet -what 
greater calamity could befall a man than to discover 
his wife’s perfidy, and to know that while she smiles 
and caresses him she is conspiring with others to 
bring about his death ? 

Fate decreed that such position, ere long, should 
be mine. 

One morning, after we had been at Elveham 
several weeks, the post-bag contained a letter ad- 
dressed to Vera, which I handed to her. There was 
nothing extraordinary in this, as she received many 
letters from friends, some of which bore the Russian 
stamp. But the postmark of this particular one was 
remarkable, inasmuch as it was from Oundle, a 
town but a few miles distant, where I knew none of 
her acquaintances resided. 

Hastily glancing at its superscription, she turned 
pale and became visibly agitated ; then glancing at 
me, as if to assure herself I had not noticed her 
anxiety, she broke the envelope and read the con- 
tents, afterwards thrusting it hurriedly into her pocket, 
evidently trying to hide it from my sight. 

I am constrained to confess that in my then mood 
I attached but little importance to the matter, and 
not until subsequent events had occurred did I re- 


GUILTY BONDS. 


U7 

member it, though I remarked inwardly that during 
the remainder of the day she seemed nervously 
anxious, and about her face there was a strange, 
careworn expression, such as I had only once be- 
fore seen — on the night of our interview at Rich- 
mond. 

In the evening, having some correspondence to 
attend to, I retired to the library, a fine old room, 
filled from floor to ceiling with books, and contain- 
ing many choice editions, for bibliophilism had been 
my father’s hobby, and he had rendered this portion 
of the house extremely pleasant and comfortable. 
A lover of books himself, I, as a literary man, in- 
herited his tastes, and now on my return home fre- 
quently spent several hours here daily, reading, and 
transacting that business which necessarily falls 
upon the owner of an estate. 

It was pleasant enough in the daytime, with its 
windows opening upon the terrace, commanding an 
extensive view of the Dene, but at night, when the 
thick crimson curtains were drawn, the lamps lit, and 
the Are blazed cheerfully in the wide old-fashioned 
grate, casting its inconstant light upon the stands 
of shining armor of departed Burgoynes, then it was 
one of the most snug and cosy rooms in the house. 

We had dined, and I had been alone a couple of 
hours busily answering several important letters, 
when Vera entered. 


148 


GUILTY BOHM, 


She did not speak, fearing perhaps to interrupt me, 
but with a loving glance drew a lounge chair towards 
the fire, and sank into it. I was startled to notice 
how deathly pale she was, and asked whether she 
felt ill. 

“I have a very painful headache, dear,” she re- 
plied in a tremulous voice. '‘I think I will go to 
my room and rest. If I am undisturbed I shall, 
perhaps, be better,” 

“Very well,” I replied; “I will ring for Elise,” 
for my wife’s maid had been retained, and was de- 
voted to her mistress. 

“No, no, do not trouble her; I will go myself. 
Don’t disturb me, dear, and I shall be well to-mor- 
row,” she replied, as I rose to touch the bell. 

“As you wish, dearest,” I said, kissing her ; “I 
hope sleep will refresh you. ” 

She rose and departed, but before she closed the 
door, added: “I shall not come down again to- 
night. You will not feel dull.?” 

“No, dear,” I replied. “ Here’s aheap of writing 
before me, and while you are getting rid of your 
headache I can get through it. Good-night.” 

She wished me hon soir in a low, strained voice, 
and closed the door. 

Till nearly eleven o’clock I continued writing, but 
feeling cramped, lit a cigarette, and opening one of 
the French windows, stepped out into the night. 


GUILTY BONDS. 


149 


It was dark. There was no sound beyond my 
own footsteps, but as I left the house the thought 
of the strange murders in London by some chance 
recurred to me. Was it a presage of coming evil ; 
of an approaching crisis of my fate.? Somehow I 
felt that it was, and with rhy thoughts fixed upon 
the awful subject I wandered away over the grav- 
elled paths, scarcely heeding the direction in which 
I was walking. Gradually, however, I became more 
composed ; the surrounding peace, the soft air, and 
the thought of my wife’s strong affection, had their 
soothing effect upon me. 

Recalled to myself by the weird hoot of an owl, I 
looked round, and saw I had penetrated into the 
beech wood, and that I trod noiselessly upon the 
mossy ground. 

Pausing for a moment to take out a fresh cigarette, 
the sound of voices, close to where I stood, fell in- 
distinctly upon my ears. It did not, and would not, 
have struck me as curious, had I not suddenly ob- 
served two figures, a man and a woman, who were 
standing together. I had no desire, nor inclination, 
to witness the love-making of a couple of rustics, yet 
what could I do .? To move was to be discovered, 
so I remained motionless, hidden behind the trunk 
of a huge tree. 

After a few moments they resumed their conversa- 
tion earnestly, and my curiosity was aroused. I 


GUILTY BONDS, 


150 

listened, but was unable to distinguish a single word. 
Suddenly, however, the truth became evident. I 
knew they were speaking in Russian ! 

I recognized the woman’s voice as that of Vera ! 

Scarce daring to breathe, I stood rooted to the 
spot, but just as I had made the startling discovery 
the moon appeared from behind a bank of cloud, 
shining down through the leafy branches, and re- 
vealing my wife leaning upon the arm of her com- 
panion. 

He was bending over her, with his face hidden 
from me. My first impulse was to rush forward 
and surprise them ; but reflecting a moment, I stood 
eagerly watching. He was uttering tenderly-spoken 
words, and her head was resting upon his shoulder, 
when suddenly he turned and glanced in my direc- 
tion. 

The moonlight fell full upon his face, and in 
a moment I recognized it as one I had seen be- 
fore ! 

It was a countenance every feature of which was 
impressed only too deeply upon my memory — that 
of the man I had seen leaving the house in Bedford 
Place ! — the man I had vowed to deliver up to jus- 
tice whenever he should cross my path ! 

There was a rustling among the bracken, and the 
branches of the trees gently swaying, cast weird 
shadows around which a heated imagination could 


GUIL TY BONDS. 1 5 1 

easily have transformed into the shapes and forms 
of supernatural creatures. 

Again peeping from my place of concealment, I 
saw my wife and her companion were moving on- 
ward ; indeed I was compelled to draw back quickly, 
for she passed so close that I could touch her. 

Conversing in the same earnest tones they strolled 
slowly along to the edge of the wood ; but I did 
not follow them : I had heard and seen enough. 

Stunned and bewildered, no tears welled from my 
eyes, but, nevertheless, I began to bitterly repent 
the implicit trust I had placed in Vera, and firmly 
resolved not to rest until I could bring to justice the 
inhuman monster who, not content with his horrible 
deeds, had ruined that happiness that I foolishly 
believed would last always. 

The shock was so great it prostrated me. The 
impulse to follow them never suggested itself — fool 
that I was ! 


GUILTY BONDS. 


^52 


CHAPTER XIX. 

FALSE ! 

Utterly broken down at this manifestation of 
Vera’s deception and faithlessness, I wandered away 
through the grounds in an opposite direction. 

Those only who have experienced a suddenly over- 
whelming grief at discovering the perfidy of the 
person on whom their affection is set know the in- 
tense regret, the anger, and the jealous hatred of 
the one by whose instrumentality their idol has been 
shattered. If ever the spirit of murder enters a man’s 
soul it is then. 

I thought only of revenge. 

Did I not know enough of this man who had 
blighted my wife’s happiness to prove him a mur- 
derer and to send him to the gallows } Should I not 
be even fulfilling my duty in doing so, as well as 
avenging my own wrongs at the same time ? 

Yes. I resolved, after much commune with my- 
self, to do this on the morrow. First I would com- 
pel Vera to disclose his name, then seek him out, 
and hand him over to the police. 

With these and other maddening thoughts cours- 


GUILTY BONDS. 


^53 


ing through my brain I had cast myself upon the 
trunk of a fallen tree, and must have sat there for 
some time as, when I became conscious of things 
about me, the gray dawn had appeared through the 
fast-falling foliage. 

Rising, I slowly retraced my steps to the house, 
pacing the terrace several times in deep soliloquy. 
The stars had disappeared, the chill breeze stirred 
the boughs softly, and the air was impregnated with 
the perfume of decaying leaves. How well I re- 
member leaning upon the stone balustrade, gazing 
away down the misty Dene, and reflecting that ere 
the morrow's sun had set Vera and I would be 
parted forever ; for after such a discovery I could 
trust her no longer, neither could we be anything 
more to each other than strangers. 

Need I say how heartily I cursed myself for hav- 
ing been prevailed upon to visit her at Richmond, to 
listen to her lame excuses, to be softened by her 
endearing words .? No. For the thousandth time I 
told myself I had been fascinated by her beauty in 
the way the bird is fascinated by the snake ; her 
toils were about me, and until the present moment 
I had always been too weak to tear them asunder, 
to lift the veil from my own eyes, and see her in 
her true character — that of an adventuress. 

But that time had now arrived, and though I con- 
fess I was beside myself with grief to find the woman 


GUILTY BONDS. 


IS4 

I had loved so fondly, guilty of such scheming and 
such treachery, I was, nevertheless, pleased to be 
in possession of the truth. Now I was aware of 
the worst, and should know how to act. 

Presently I turned and passed through the French 
window into my study. It was useless retiring, for 
I could not sleep with such thoughts gnawing at my 
heart, so I flung myself into my writing-chair and 
thought. 

I sat motionless until the warm sun shone through 
the open window and the birds outside had broken 
forth into song, when it occurred to me that as I 
had resolved to leave the place in a few hours it 
would be well to place my papers in order. This I 
commenced to do. 

There lay scattered upon the table a deed relating 
to some property, and several letters of a private 
nature, upon which I had been engaged before tak- 
ing my stroll on the previous night. With the object 
of placing them under lock and key I was thought- 
fully collecting them when there fell from amongst 
the heap of papers a piece of red sealing wax, about 
the size of a sixpence. 

Rarely having occasion to use wax myself I took 
up the fragment, and found it had the appearance 
of being the rough corner of a seal that had chipped 
off the paper to which it had been affixed. 

“ Some one must have been here in my absence/' 


GUILTY BONDS. 


15s 

I exclaimed aloud, glancing at the taper which also 
lay upon the table, at the same time noticing a 
small spot of wax that had apparently been dropped 
upon the leather. Then I remembered that if any 
one had been in the study during the night they had, 
without doubt, made themselves acquainted with 
the contents of the paper, and with the rough copy 
of my will which I had carelessly left about. 

I glanced at the scrap of wax again and found 
upon the margin, close to where it was broken, there 
was an impression of something. 

This might give me a clue to the identity of the 
member of my household who required sealing-wax 
in the middle of the night. 

Going to the window, the stronger light revealed 
a strange character, something of the shape of the 
letter B, but having a long excrescence in front. 

In a moment I recognized it as one of the hiero- 
glyphics of the mystic seal ! 

Nervousness is not one of my afflictions, yet I 
looked round that room involuntarily viewing the 
curtains with suspicion, as if half afraid I should 
witness something supernatural appear from behind 
them. 

It was obvious that some one with the seal in his 
or her possession had come to my study in my ab- 
sence during the dark hours of the night for the pur- 
pose of obtaining an impression in wax, and that 


CUIL TY BONDS. 


the piece which had served as a clue had accidentally 
chipped off, alighting amongst the papers. 

That some one in the house held the seal there 
could not be the slightest doubt, and my thoughts 
at once flew to the man whom Vera had clandes- 
tinely met — he whom I knew to be the murderer of 
Mrs. Inglewood. 

Who had he marked out as his next victim 

If he entertained affection for Vera, and she recip- 
rocated it, what was more natural than that they 
should wish to rid themselves of me ? I shuddered 
at the thought. My wife could surely never be an 
accessory to a murder — yet such things were not 
unknown, I told myself. 

Yes ; my surmise must be correct. My wife’s 
lover was only waiting for a favorable opportunity 
to strike the fatal blow. 

He was not aware, however, that I had espied his 
presence, had recognized him ; nor that by mere 
chance I had learned that an attempt was to be 
made upon my life. 

“ I can thwart their vile plot, even now ! ” I said 
bitterly, holding the piece of wax in my hand, and 
gazing upon it. “I will see Vera and first give her 
an opportunity to justify herself. If it is unsatis- 
tory I shall then give information to the police, and 
have the murderer arrested,” and I even smiled at 
the thought that, after all, I held the trump card. 


GUILTY 


Just at that moment the door opened, a head was 
poked in, and a voice exclaimed: “ Halloa, old fel- 
tow, why you look as if you hadn’t been to bed ! I 
heard somebody chattering, and thought there must 
be visitors, yet it’s rather early. Talking to your- 
self, it seems.” 

“ What’s the time } ” I exclaimed rather brusquely, 
at the same moment taking out my watch. 

“ Half-past five,” he replied. “Coming out with 
me for a walk } A stretch at this hour of the morn- 
ing will do you good.” 

“No, thanks ; Fm not an athlete,” I replied. 

“Very well. But, by Jove, what’s the matter 
with you this morning .? If you’d had a bad night 
at baccarat and were stone broke you couldn’t look 
worse. ” 

“Matter with me ? Nothing ! ” I replied, endeav- 
oring to smile, “except that I’ve been very busy 
writing. ” 

“Take my tip and go to bed, old fellow. A 
couple of hours there will freshen you up wonder- 
fully. But, good-bye, if you won’t come for a stroll. ” 

“Good-bye: see you at breakfast,” I replied 
abruptly, as the head withdrew and the door closed. 

The intruder was Demetrius Hertzen, Vera’s 
cousin, a tall, broad-shouldered fellow about my 
own age, who had an abundance of spirits, which 
made him a most agreeable companion. 


GUILTY BONDS. 


153 

In response to my invitation he had arrived from 
Brussels a fortnight previously, and had signified his 
ability to remain my guest for another month. I had 
only met him once before, at our marriage, but when 
he had been with us a few days, I found he had 
many tastes in common with myself, — that he knew 
London quite as well as Paris or Brussjels, and that 
although used to rather fast society perhaps, he was 
nevertheless a thoroughly good fellow. 

Vera and he had been children together, and 
laughingly admitted they were sweethearts before 
they had gained their teens, but that when Deme- 
trius arrived at the mature age of fifteen he trans- 
ferred his affections. Cautiously I had approached 
my guest with a view to learn something of his 
cousin’s past, but he seemed remarkably shrewd, 
and carefully warded off every indirect question I 
put to him on the subject. 

Possibly it was at Vera’s request that he would 
not tell me what he knew, yet upon this matter only 
was he silent, as he conversed freely of his own 
doings and acquaintances, and of his life since leav- 
ing the paternal roof, for though a Russian, he spoke 
English almost perfectly, and only in certain words 
could the accent be detected. 

Somehow, though our acquaintance had been but 
brief, I had become greatly attached to him, such a 
mirthful cosmopolitan was he, brimming over with 


GUILTY BONDS. 


^59 


humor and good-fellowship and as light-hearted as 
his father was dark and sullen. He seemed to be 
untroubled by any thought or care, the sole object 
of his existence being to get the greatest amount of 
enjoyment out of life, and cause amusement to his 
companions. 

Perplexed and uneasy, I longed for some one in 
whom to confide, and after he had gone, as I stood 
there brooding, I almost regretted I had not told 
him of my suspicions, and enlisted his sympathy 
and aid in tracking the murderer. 

I knew, were I to tell him of my discovery of 
Vera’s faithlessness, he would readily render any 
assistance, and even give me advice that I might 
follow with advantage. I had no one else near to 
whom I could speak, and after considerable delibera- 
tion I at last determined to take him into my confi- 
dence, provided I obtained an opportunity of speak- 
ing with him alone after breakfast. 

To my pocket-book I transferred the mysterious 
piece of sealing-wax, and then sadly and thought- 
fully resumed the task of putting my papers in order. 

It took some time, and when finished I set about 
making preparations for my journey. 

First I drew a cheque in favor of myself for a 
good round sum, then I sat down and wrote a long 
letter to Vera, which I intended she should read 
after I had gone. 


t6o 


GUILTS BONDS. 


Full of sorrow and regret, it was a letter in which 
I told her of my dejection and my inconsolable grief, 
yet expressiijg a bitter hope that her life might be 
happier in the future than mine would be, and ex- 
plaining the arrangements I proposed whereby she 
would have a fair income, and Elveham to reside in 
as long as she wished. 

More than once in the course of writing I was so 
overcome I could scarce proceed, and throwing 
down my pen was tempted to tear the letter up. 
But it was a duty the last communication between 
myself and she who had been dearest to me. I felt 
constrained to write on to the end, and append my 
signature. 

After carefully reading it through, I placed it in 
an envelope, and addressed it to her, “to be opened 
after my departure.” 

The hours had crept on unnoticed ; the servant 
had long ago come in for the purpose of dusting the 
place, but, seeing me, had retired. Just as I had 
written the superscription on the envelope the door 
again opened, and I found myself face to face with 
Vera. 


GUILTY BONDS, 


i6i 


CHAPTER XX. 

A MYSTERY STILL. 

I ROSE with a resolute determination that it should 
be our last interview. 

“Why, Frank,” she exclaimed, with well-feigned 
surprise, as she advanced, “you haven’t been to 
bed, and — why, what's the matter, dear ? ” she added, 
noticing the expression of anger upon my counte- 
nance. 

“You ought to know well enough,” I replied 
sternly. 

“How should I know.?” she asked. “Why, the 
gas is still burning ! Surely you've not been writing 
all night ! ” 

“ It seems your headache has left you,” I ex- 
claimed curtly, without answering her question. 

“ Yes, I feel better this morning.” 

“In fact, the pain disappeared as soon as you left 
me last night, eh ? ” 

“What ! — what do you mean, Frank? ” she asked 
anxiously, in a strange voice, a sudden pallor over- 
spreading her statuesque face. 

“You plead ignorance; it is exactly what I ex- 

II 


i 62 


GUILTY BONDS. 


pected. My meaning, I should have thought was 
pretty clear. You are not usually so dull.” 

“ I do not understand you.” 

Her eyes wavered, she trembled with excitement, 
and I could see she was bent upon concealing the 
truth. This increased my anger. 

“ It is a lie ! ” I said sharply. “You are trying 
to deceive me, but I know the truth at last. ” 

“ Deceiving you ! Why, what have I done that 
you should accuse me in this manner } Surely you 
are not yourself this morning.? ” 

“You left me here writing last night, did you 
not ? ” 

“ Yes,” she answered, gloomily. 

“And thought that I was safe for a few hours, and 
would not keep an eye upon your movements .? ” 

“ What has that to do with it ? ” 

“ Simply this. A couple of hours ' after you 
shammed illness and left me, I went out into the 

Dene, and there I saw ” 

“There you saw me ! ” she cried wildly, swaying 
forward, and clutching at the back of a chair for 
support. ‘‘Dieuf it is true, Frank; yes, true, I — I 
confess — I deceived you.” 

“Then you admit it ! ” I ejaculated, hardly believ- 
ing my own ears. 

“ Yes ; yes, I do,” she moaned in tones of anguish. 
“But forgive me, and say no more about the occur- 


G UIL TV BONDS. 1 63 

fence. It was unfortunate, and no harm has been 
done.” 

I tried with difficulty to restrain my passionate 
indignation. Such a cool request maddened me. 

“ Unfortunate ! ” I cried. “ No ; for me it is the 
reverse, for it has opened my eyes to your faithless- 
ness. Forgive you this ! The thing’s absurd I ” 

“ I unfaithful 1 ” she repeated, looking vacantly 
about her, and clasping her hands. I never thought 
it could be misconstrued into that 1 I unfaithful ! 
Am I not your wife } ” and with heaving breast and 
tearful eyes she bent her head as if to avert my gaze. 

Yes ; you are my wife, but she who brings dis- 
honor upon her husband is unworthy that name,” I 
said, in a tone of disgust. 

I have not brought you dishonor,” she declared, 
drawing herself up with dignity. 

You have, I tell you ! Late last night you met 
a strange man in the Dene, and that man is your 
lover I ” I retorted, decisively. 

‘‘ That I am to blame, Frank, I admit,” she said, 
dashing the tears from her eyes, “ but he is not my 
lover. I swear you are mistaken. Nothing was 
further from my thoughts.” 

“ Oh, don’t tell me that I I know enough of the 
world to distinguish the meaning of such clandestine 
meetings,” I replied, sickened at the manner she was 
endeavoring to clear herself. 


164 


GUILTY BONDS. 


“There is no love between us,” she exclaimed; 
“ but ” — and she paused. 

“Then why meet him in such a secret manner?” 
I demanded, adding with a sneer, “perhaps you 
will tell me next that it was not you I saw, but a 
twin sister.” 

She still hesitated, with her eyes cast down as if 
in thought. 

“You can give no answer,” I continued with 
warmth, “because you are guilty.” 

“ Guilty only of meeting him,” she said, drawing 
a deep breath : “but I assure you there is no love 
between us — nay, I swear it — only a secret tie.” 

“I don’t wish you to perjure yourself,” I remarked 
coldly. “You ‘ assure me ’ ! What utter nonsense.” 

“ I tell you the truth.” 

“You have told me so many falsehoods that a little 
truth is certainly refreshing ! ” I replied with sarcasm. 

“ I cannot force you to believe me,” she continued 
in a low voice, still steadying herself by the chair. 

“Do you think me such a confounded idiot, then, 
as to believe you could have business with a strange 
man at that hour of the night ? ” 

“Business, nevertheless, was the object of our 
meeting. ” 

“Bah! your excuses are positively intolerable. 
What was the nature of this business ? ” 

“You must not know,” she replied, hesitatingly. 


GUILTY BONDS. 


Her brows contracted, and her tiny hands clenched 
tightly upon the chair-back, as if summoning all her 
courage to be firm. 

“Ah! the old story. More mystery. Look here I 
IVe had enough of it ! ” I shouted in anger. “In 
fact, IVe had too much of it already, and I demand 
an explanation, or you and I must part I ” 

A shudder ran through her slim frame as I spoke, 
and she lost her support and almost fell. With a 
sudden movement she pushed back the mass of dark 
curls from her forehead, her bright eyes gleamed 
with an earnest fire as they met mine, and she said, 
hysterically, “You are cruel — you do not knowhow 
I suffer, for your surmise is not correct in the smallest 
degree. You, my husband, I love, and no one else. 
And you accuse me, Mon Dieu ! ’’ 

My self-control was very nearly exhausted. If 
she had been a man I might have struck her ! As it 
was, I was powerless, and as I looked at her my 
eyes must have gleamed with fury. 

“Last night proved the great extent of your love 
for me,’' I exclaimed fiercely. 

All that latent fire which exists in every woman’s 
nature, ready to burst into flame when her self- 
respect is wounded, was aglow in Vera as I uttered 
that retort. 

“I cannot see that it did. I have done absolutely 
nothing of which I am ashamed,” was her answer. 


i66 


GUILTY BONDS. 


She spoke with a cool, reckless candor that 
shocked me. My thoughts were soured by dis- 
appointment. 

'‘What ! ” I cried, “have you no compunction?’' 

“I am sorry it was my ill-luck to be seen by you, 
and thus cause you unnecessary pain.” 

“ Oh, spare me your expressions of sorrow, pray,” 
I said, in a hard tone. “They are out of place.” 

“I had thought to keep his presence a secret,” 
she continued in that dead-calm voice, which was 
like some one speaking in a dream. 

“If he were not your lover, why should you do 
that? Your own words prove your guilt ! ” 

“Because I had reasons,” she replied. 

“Reasons!” I repeated, my thoughts at once 
reverting ‘to the piece of seal I had discovered. 
“Strange reasons they must be, surely. What is 
his name ? ” 

“It is nobody you know. You have never heard 
of him.” 

It was upon the tip of my tongue to denounce him 
as the perpetrator of the crime in Bedford Place, but 
with difficulty I restrained myself, and, impelled by 
the strangeness of her manner, demanded : 

‘ ‘ Who is he ? Answer me ! ” 

“I am very sorry, Frank, but I cannot,” she 
replied, her face deathly pale, and her limbs trem- 
bling with agitation. 


GUIL TV BONDS, 167 

‘^Then you refuse to answer?” I cried, stung to 
the quick by her dogged persistency. 

“Yes ; I must.” 

Her hands clasped, her teeth firmly set, her blood- 
less face tear-stained and haggard, and her hair 
disordered, she stood rigidly beside the chair that 
supported her, striving by an almost superhuman 
effort to suppress her emotion. 

“Vera,” I shouted fiercely, “it seems IVe been 
fooled. Curse that man who has brought misery 
and destruction to us both ! By heaven if ” 

“ He is not to blame : it is I,” she inj;errupted. 

“You shield him at the expense of yourself. I 
see. Now, hear me. All my questions you have 
evaded ; to none will you give direct answers. 
Enough of mysteries which you have refused to 
reveal ever since knowing me ; therefore, we can 
do naught else but part.” 

“What — you will leave me because of this ? ” she 
moaned, with a wild, hysterical cry. “ Why don’t 
you go a step further — why don’t you say at once 
you are tired of me ? ” she cried, with an outburst of 
passion. “ Say that you wish me dead.” 

“That would be untrue,” I answered. “You 
know well I have lived only for you, Vera, and at 
nothing should I rejoice more than to be able to 
prove myself mistaken ; yet, until that can be done, 
we must separate.” 


i68 


GUILTY BONDS. 


She was grave and thoughtful for a moment, then, 
looking into my face, said haughtily : 

“If you are determined upon this step, I am 
powerless to prevent it.” 

“No, you are not,” I asserted. 

“Why?” 

“Because you might answer satisfactorily the 
questions I put to you just now.” 

“No ; no, anything but that,” she replied prompt- 
ly, as with a frantic gesture she covered her face 
with her hands, continuing, “It — it would be far 
better for us to part, or the result — the result — might 
prove fatal. ” 

“What do you mean ? ” I demanded incredulously, 
as the mystery of the seal recurred to me. 

“ I mean that my secret must be kept, even if we 
part,” she gasped, with a futile endeavor to com- 
pose herself. 

“This is your final decision, then ? ” 

“ Alas ! it must be.” 

“Very well, Vera, I wish you adieu,” I said 
sadly, for I was completely broken-hearted at the 
thought of my idol's deceit, and the transparent 
subterfuges by which she had endeavored to con- 
ceal her guilt. “We have been happy during the 
few months of our wedded life, but that is a thing of 
the past. Henceforth mine will be a dark, hope- 
less existence, while yours, I trust, may be as 


GUILTY BONDS. 


169 

pleasant as it has hitherto been ; for though you 
have dishonored me, I love you too well, even 
now, to wish any calamity should ever befall you.” 

^‘No, Frank, don’t leave me. I could not bear 
it ! ” she shrieked, bursting into a tonrent of tears. 
‘‘I have told you the truth — I have, by heaven ! 
It is my terrible misfortune that I am unable to 
explain who that man was, and from the same 
cause it has not been possible for me to acquaint 
you with anything relating to my past. Wait pa- 
tiently for a little, and I promise you faithfully — I 
swear you shall know everything.” 

She was terribly in earnest, I could see ; her 
whole future depending upon my decision that 
moment. It was the secret of her life I was anxious 
to learn beyond anything, and I asked : 

“ How long must I wait .? ” 

She gazed at me for a few seconds blankly, appar- 
ently making some calculation. 

“Three weeks. Wait till then before you con- 
demn me — do, I implore of you ! ” 

What ingenious motive could there be in thus 
gaining time, I asked myself. Could it be that in 
three weeks’ time the murderer would be safely out 
of the country ? 

This seemed more than probable. 

I felt half inclined to demand an immediate ex- 
planation or carry out the alternative, when, on a 


GUILTY BONDS. 


170 

moment’s reflection, I resolved not to resort to ex- 
tremes without giving her an opportunity of dis- 
proving my allegations. 

"‘Very well,” I said impatiently, at last; “the 
matter shall rest for the present ; but this day three 
weeks I shall be prepared — I shall expect to hear a 
complete explanation. Bear that in mind.” 

As I spoke the door had opened noiselessly, and 
Demetrius, with an expectant expression on his good- 
humored face, and a cigarette in his mouth, stood 
upon the threshold. 

Vera, who had been awaiting my reply , with 
breathless agitation, murmured in a low, intense 
voice, “ In three weeks you shall know all, I — 
promise — you,” and before I could save her she had 
swayed forward helplessly and fallen full length in 
a dead swoon. 

‘ ‘ Ma foi ! ” exclaimed Demetrius ; ‘ ‘ why, what has 
happened ? ” as he rushed forward in consternation 
and assisted me to lift her upon the couch. 

“ Nothing,” I replied. “ A little difference of 
opinion between us, that’s all ; ” and ringing the bell 
violently to summon the servants, I left the room 
without further utterance. 


GUILTY BONDS. 


171 


CHAPTER XXI. 

STORMS OF FATE. 

It will readily be imagined that it was in no ami- 
able state of mind I left the house. Distraction was 
what I wanted — distraction from thoughts of the sad 
events which had just transpired, and which threat- 
ened to wreck all the hopes of wedded happiness I 
had founded upon Vera’s supposed love for me. It 
was a bitter experience of the vanity of human 
pleasures, and was one more proof of the falsity and 
hollowness of her whom I had loved more than life 
itself. 

Determined to leave the Dene and rid myself of 
these remorseful thoughts, I jammed on my hat and 
rushed from the house. 

While walking down the drive the postman passed 
me, bearing the second delivery of letters. The 
sight of him recalled to my mind the fact that, in the 
midst of the morning’s excitement, the usual batch 
of correspondence had escaped my notice. Turning 
hastily, I made for the study, where a number of 
letters were awaiting me. 

There was only one communication which pos- 


172 


GUILTY BONDS. 


sessed for me any interest. It was from my old 
friend Bob Nugent, and a thrill of pleasure passed 
through me as I recognized the familiar scrawl — 
Bob was never a neat writer. 

The letter was as follows : Dear Old Frank, — 
I am writing in great haste, and at the usual high 
pressure, to give you the welcome news that Teddy 
Rivers has turned up after his New Zealand ex- 
periences, as fresh as paint. He hasn’t much time 
to spare ; so if you want to have one of the old 
dinners at the Junior Garrick, my boy, and can tear 
yourself away from the little wife for a few hours, 
why — come soon. — Yours ever. Bob Nugent.” 

“ Tear yourself away from the little wife ! ” I re- 
peated to myself with a groan. Bob was quite right ; 
Vera had truly charmed me, laying me under the 
spell of her beauty and the vivacity of her manner — 
for what ! With a savage stamp of my foot I threw 
the letter upon the fire. 

A moment’s reflection convinced me that my best 
course would be to run up to town and meet my 
friends. As a matter of fact, the opportunity was 
just what I needed. It would atford a little excite- 
ment to drown the weary hours, and cause the time 
to pass more quickly. 

I decided to go. 

My preparations were soon complete, and the 
afternoon mail saw me being rapidly conveyed to 


GUILTY BONDS. 


»73 

town, after having left an explanatory note for Vera, 
to the effect that I should in all probability be absent 
three weeks. 

That journey I shall ever remember. The mad 
noisy whirl of the express train was as nothing com- 
pared with the wild tormenting dance of my thoughts 
as they again and again reverted to the unhappy 
events of the morning. At one time I blamed 
my precipitation ; at another I bemoaned my weak- 
ness in allowing myself to be wheedled into waiting 
another three weeks. Should I ever live those fear- 
ful twenty-one days } Some presentiment seemed 
to fill my brain, and as the train rushed through the 
stations one after another, every moment seemed 
bearing me nearer and nearer to some catastrophe. 

With a sense of vast satisfaction, therefore, I 
alighted from a cab in Adam Street, Strand, the same 
evening, and found myself standing outside the time- 
stained old building, with which so much of my past 
had been associated. As its well-known entrance 
met my gaze it appeared to be but yesterday when I 
left that very spot on the morning the first murder 
was committed in Bedford Place. 

Brushing aside these memories — for they threat- 
ened to become very dismal — I walked quickly up- 
stairs to the well-remembered smoking-room, and 
glanced around. 

As I did this it occurred to me that I had made a 


174 


GUILTY BONDS. 


great omission. I had forgotten to inform Bob by 
telegram that I so promptly accepted his invitation, 
and consequently he was not awaiting me, nor did I 
know a single face about me. 

Evidently there was no utility in staying there, 
for it might be hours before my friend put in an ap- 
pearance. I knew his address, but did not feel in 
the humor for going to hunt him up ; finally I re- 
solved to go to a hotel at once. 

On regaining the street I noticed, crouching beside 
the iron railings, which, however, afforded him very 
little shelter, a haggard-looking man. His thread- 
bare coat was buttoned tightly across his chest, and 
a battered silk hat, which had seen better days, was 
pulled down over his eyes, giving him a peculiar, 
almost repulsive, appearance. Under the rim of his 
hat a pair of sharp keen eyes glittered with a bale- 
ful yet anxious glare, and these two orbs were the 
most striking part of the man’s tout ensemble. Some- 
thing about the fellow’s appearance caused me to 
regard him with attention. 

He did not withdraw his glance as mine rested on 
him. On the contrary, he seemed to become satis- 
fied of my identity. With earnest gesture he rose 
and stopped me as I was about to enter the cab. 

Now then ; move on ! shouted a harsh voice, 
as the unknown placed his hand, lean, thin and 
dirty, upon the sleeve of my ulster. The figure of 


G UIL TV BOARDS. 1 7 5 

a constable loomed up suddenly in the flickering 
gaslight. 

Stay ! What is it you want ? ” I asked, for my 
heart seemed to tell me he was no ordinary alms- 
seeker. 

He was about to reply, and I could feel his hand 
upon my arm trembling with eagerness, when the 
policeman again interposed. 

“ He’s only a-beggin’ again, sir,” said that 
worthy. “ I often turn him away when he’s bother- 
ing the gents — and that’s pretty nigh always,” he 
added, in a grumbling undertone. 

What’s the matter with him ? ” I inquired, not- 
ing the paleness of the poor fellow’s face. Before I 
could say another word his hold on my arm had re- 
laxed, and he fell backwards, almost into the arms 
of the too zealous officer. 

Bending beside him, I ordered some brandy to be 
brought, and in spite of the assurance from my astute 
friend that he was not worth the trouble,” I did all 
I could to restore the inanimate form to conscious- 
ness. 

I’ve never seen ’im like this ’ere before, blow 
me ! ’’observed the cabby, who was lending a little 
assistance, because, as I supposed, he thought there 
might be some profit attaching to the operation. My 
authority was not to be slighted when I was in ear- 
nest, which was the case just then. 


1 7 6 GUIL TY BONDS. 

The unfortunate man presently showed signs of 
reviving, having been carried into the cloak-room 
of the club, while I questioned the constable as to 
who he was and where he lived. 

“As for who he is, sir, that’s more than any one 
knows barrin’ hisself,” and he laughed. “He lives 
'ere, or has done so for the last eight or nine months 
and always seems to be lookin’ out for somebody 
wot he thinks he’ll know when he sees.” 

This appeared rather enigmatical. Why had the 
stranger sought to detain me.? A momentary 
thought crossed my mind — was Vera concerned in 
this .? 

With a new interest I turned to the constable. 

“ Has he ever stopped any one else and spoken 
like this ? ” I asked. 

“Bless you, yes,” he replied. “But I never knew 
him so earnest as this time — hullo, old fellow, how 
do you feel now .? ” 

A faint flush of color tinged the careworn face ; 
the stimulant had done its work. How sickening 
it was, I thought, to hear the affectation of friendli- 
ness in this man’s voice, now he thought that be- 
cause my sympathy had been attracted towards the 
sufferer there was a chance of gaining a few shil- 
lings ! 

“It’s him— it’s him! I knew I’d And him some 
day,” cried the prostrate man, raising himself on 


GUIL TY BONDS. 


177 


his arm and pointing eagerly at me, as if awaken- 
ing from some bad dream. Then, as he saw the in- 
terested faces of those who had gathered around, 
and noted the keen looks with which he was re- 
garded, he scowled darkly, and struggled into a sit- 
ting posture. As he noticed me again watching 
him intently, he started. 

“Did you want to speak to me, my poor fellow ? " 
I inquired kindly. 

“ For mercy’s sake wait a few moments, sir, 
please. Let me get breath. Send these people 
away, I — Fm better now. See,” and he rose and 
walked unsteadily to the door, watching me all the 
time 'v^ith a keen scrutiny which made me feel rather 
uncomfortable. 

A moment or two later we were on the pavement 
outside, where the cab I had ordered still remained. 

“We must hurry, or we shall be too late,” he 
urged. “ Follow quickly, sir.” 

“Wait a moment,” I said, my prudence for the 
moment mastering my curiosity. “What do you 
want with me, and where are you going to take me } ” 

With a searching stare he faced me, but I did not 
flinch. There was an ominous gleam in his dark 
eyes scowling fiercely into mine, as he said im- 
petuously, — 

“ Don’t stand here, wasting precious time in use- 
less questions. You cannot know now what it is I 
12 


GUILTY BONDS. 


178 

want you for — if you are the right man — and Heaven 
grant you may be — you shall know all. ’’ 

“You are talking nonsense/’ I said quietly, and 
with determination. “What’s at the bottom of all 
this ? Come, tell me quickly ; my time is being 
wasted. ” 

My watch, as I glanced at it in the gaslight, 
showed that the hour was about half-past ten, but 
my earnestness to find the real meaning of this mys- 
terious adventure, coupled with my curiosity, would 
probably have kept me there for hours. 

Soon, however, I became impatient. 

My unknown questioner looked at me with a 
resolute smile. His features, or as much of‘ them 
as could be seen beneath the shabby hat, were 
not unhandsome, and the smile became him 
well. 

“You are coming with me to-night and soon,” he 
said, in the same cool and determined manner I 
had myself displayed. 

This was too much. Without word or sign I sprang 
into the cab, and as the Jehu touched the animal 
with his whip, my face was determinedly turned 
away from my strange acquintance. 

My action was so sudden that at first he seemed 
disconcerted. The cab had only moved a few yards 
before, with a sudden bound, he gained the horse’s 
head. 


GUILTY BONDS. 


179 

Leave go that ’orse ! ’’ shouted the cabman with 
an oath. 

For a few seconds there was a scene of confusion. 
The man still holding the reins, and heedless of the 
plunging and affrighted animal, approached me. 
He was evidently exhausted, and could withstand 
the excitement no longer. His coat had burst 
asunder, revealing inall its raggedness the soiled 
shirt underneath, through the holes in which his 
panting chest was plainly visible. 

“One word, sir,” he implored, springing with the 
wildness of despair upon the front of the hansom. 
“Just one more word, and then if you won’t come, 
the consequence will lie upon your own head. Do, 
do stop ! ” 

Thoroughly alarmed at his vehemence, I again 
ordered the cabman to pull up. There must, I re- 
flected, be something in this matter, after all. 

“Will you tell me, without delay, the reason I’m 
stopped here ; or do you wish me to give you into 
custody as a beggar ? ” I sternly asked. 

There was a crowd around us. It was a rather 
unusual spectacle, and the passers-by gave eager 
attention to it. 

“Very well, then. I’ll show you something that 
will decide you, if you will let the man drive on a 
little, out of this crush,” he rejoined, diving his hand 
into his breast-pocket. 


i8o 


GUILTY BONDS. 


Impatiently I told him to jump in, giving the order 
to drive away, anywhere. After the lapse of a few 
minutes I turned to the strange being by my side. 

He held a piece of torn paper, but what was on it 
I could not then see. Putting his shaking hand 
upon my shoulder, and his ashen face with its wild, 
glaring eyes, close to my own, he hissed, with a 
kind of vicious pleasure. 

“You think me an impostor, eh.? Well, look at 
this, and remember what it has revealed to you be- 
fore. Then say if I have stopped you without cause. 
Its author may yet be found ! ” 

His face wore a smile of triumph as he held be- 
fore my eyes a torn fragment of paper. With an in- 
definable thrill of excitement, not unmingled with 
alarm — for his words were ominous — I took it. So 
dark was it in the vehicle that I held it close to my 
eyes till we approached the next street-lamp. As 
we did so, and the light fell across the crumpled 
and dirty paper, my heart almost stopped beating, 
and my pulses, for a moment ceased. 

There, in all its frightful reality, was the seal 1 


GUILTY BONDS. 


i8i 


CHAPTER XXII. 

THE VERGE OF A DISCOVERY. 

My first impulse was to call the police, but he 
noticed my intention, and his hand was laid hur- 
riedly upon my mouth. 

“There’s nothing to fear — Tm not the man,” he 
said. “ Make no noise, and keep your own counsel. 
I can tell you plenty about this, if you care to 
listen.” 

The words fell dimly and indistinctly upon my 
ears. I was stunned and speechless — it was as if 
some vast substance had struck me an annihilating 
blow, which, while paralyzing my senses to a 
certain degree, yet left me half oblivious. It was 
clear we were in a cab, driving aimlessly about Lon- 
don streets at a late hour. It was also true that I 
had once more seen that fatal, horrible symbol, as- 
sociated with which were the most terrifying and 
agonizing events of my life. I could not, however, 
speak, and it was only by great effort that I re- 
tained my courage. 

My companion stooped and picked up something 
that had fallen at our feet, It was the paper to which 


i 82 


GUILTY BONDS. 


the seal was affixed, that had dropped from my 
nerveless fingers. 

Suddenly an icy-cold hand was laid upon my fore- 
head. 

‘‘Wake up ! wake up ! — be a man ! I’ve told you 
to fear nothing with me. We’re wasting precious 
time. Arouse yourself for once in your life ! ” 

My senses returned as suddenly as they had fled. 
The horror of feeling his hand— a hand that had in 
its possession the seal — recalled me. I sat upright 
and drew to my side of the cab as much as I could. 

‘ ‘ Ah ! ” he exclaimed bitterly, ‘ ‘ you are still afraid 
of me. See here, now,” and he leaned across, speak- 
ing deliberately and with quiet emphasis, “ I may 
die to-night, but ” 

“What ! ” I exclaimed, “ you die to-night } ” 

“ Yes,” he replied, in the same cool and determined 
tone. “You seem incredulous, but I am sure. 
Look ! ” 

He put his hand to the back of his head and with- 
drew it, holding it before my eyes. 

“ Blood ! Good heavens ! ” I ejaculated, as again 
the light revealed his thin grimy fingers. 

“True, and I’ve not long to live — all the more 
reason, is it not, that I should make haste } Will 
you come to my home, now?'" 

“At once. But let us drive to a doctor and see 
about your head. ” All my repugnance had vanished. 


GUILTY BONDS. 


183 

‘‘Wait,” he said, shouting to the cabman an 
address. I remember that we at once altered our 
course, but whither we were proceeding I cared not — 
knew not. Here was, perhaps, an elucidation of the 
mystery forthcoming, and I had nearly done my 
utmost to prevent it. 

“ Go on ; tell me all you can,” I demanded, when, 
after considerable persuasion, he had consented to 
have his head bound up as well as my slight knowl- 
edge of surgery permitted. 

“Presently. When we get home — or what was 
once my home,” he rejoined. He was paler than 
before, and leaned back in a state apparently of the 
utmost exhaustion. His necktie had been loosened, 
and I had placed my travelling rug around the thinly- 
covered chest, yet in spite of this the severe reaction 
affected him severely. Sometimes he closed his 
eyes, and every now and then, when we passed 
along streets where the lights were more brilliant 
than in others, he stared vacantly at the roof of the 
cab. 

Once, when I was leaning over him, making him 
a little more comfortable, a tear rolled down the thin, 
haggard cheek. 

The journey seemed interminable. Street after 
street we traversed, and yet our journey’s end ap- 
peared as far off as ever. We had evidently wan- 
dered a long way before our driver received a definite 


i84 


GUILTY BONDS. 


address, or possibly he was lengthening the course 
for his own benefit. 

The fact was that, in my impatience, it appeared 
longer than it really would have done. 

Eventually we regained the Strand, and shortly 
afterwards our conveyance came to a standstill in 
what appeared to be anything but an inviting neigh- 
borhood. Not a soul was about, and the empty 
street rattled loudly as we clattered along it. 

We were in Drury Lane, before the entrance to a 
narrow squalid court. 

As we stopped I turned with a sigh of relief to my 
companion, who, however, stirred not. 

A fearful misgiving entered my heart. Was it 
possible he was dead ? 

Profoundly thankful I felt when, after shaking him, 
he turned and opened his eyes. 

“Come ; is this the place? Tasked, assisting him 
to his feet. 

He followed me mechanically, but leaned very 
heavily on my arm as we stood for a moment while 
I paid the cabman. 

“ Where is it ? ” was my next question. 

With an effort he composed himself, passing his 
hand wearily over his eyes. He appeared much 
changed. Inwardly deploring my forgetfulness, I 
drew my flask from my pocket and tendered him a 
pull, which he accepted with feverish energy. 


G UIL TY BONDS. 185 

*‘Ah ! that puts new life into one ! ” he exclaimed, 
with a gasp. 

His tone struck me as peculiar, and, regarding him 
attentively, it was plainly to be seen that he was in 
a very faint condition. 

“ This way,” he continued, as, bracing himself up, 
he led the way up the court. 

“ Here — here was where I found her, murdered ! ” 

“ Who ? ” I asked, instantly. 

My wife.” 

The words were simple ones, and might have been 
spoken and heard a thousand times on any day ; but 
at that time, and in those circumstances, they thrilled 
me indescribably. If those two words had been 
uttered by an enthusiastic lover to his bride for the 
first time, they could not have been more tenderly 
breathed. 

Brushing aside all sentiment, however, I inquired, 
coldly, “ When was this } ” 

“ On the night of the fourth of March.” 

What ! that was the night after I returned from 
Russia,! ” I exclaimed, involuntarily. And the seal. 
Was that found upon her } ” 

“It was. But hush ! we may be overheard. Let 
us go in.” 

Filled with horror and amazement, I followed him 
up the tortuous stairs of a house in close proximity 
to the spot. After mounting several flights in utter 


i86 


GUILTY BONDS. 


darkness, we entered an attic — as it proved on strik- 
ing- a match — containing only the scantiest possible 
furniture. In one corner stood a bed, and by it a 
broken wicker-bottomed chair. An old box was 
placed near the broken fireplace rusted by damp, and 
that, with a few other articles, formed the whole 
contents of the miserable apartment. 

He lighted the piece of candle which was upon the 
box, and after carefully closing the door, we sat 
down. 

Scarcely had we done this, however, than he fell 
forward with a crash upon the bare floor, the blood 
at the same time gushing out afresh from the wound 
at the back of the head, and forming a small pool. 
Greatly to my relief he spoke almost immediately, 
although in such low tones as to be scarcely audible. 

“It’s useless to call for assistance, for the house 
is empty. Lay me on the bed, if you can, and I’ll 
tell you all — everything.” 

“But you are hurt, and must be attended to,” I 
said. There was a pang at my heart all the time, 
for, with my selfish desire to solve the mystery at 
once, this new wound meant fresh delay. 

“If you leave me you will, on returning, find me 
dead. Lay me on the bed ; keep quiet, and listen.” 

Those were the words he spoke, and strangely 
calm and composed they seemed. With a precipi- 
tation which I have never ceased to deplore, I lifted 


GUILTY BONDS. 


187 

him as he desired, and gave up the idea of trying to 
obtain medical aid at that hour in a quarter unknown 
to me. 

He was soon arranged as comfortably as possible. 
The spectacle he presented — spare, pale and gaunt, 
propped up on a squalid bed, the pillows all stained 
with blood — will never be erased from my memory. 

At a sign from him I snuffed the cheap candle 
and drew closer to his side. 

A year ago on the fourth of next March,” he com- 
menced, speaking deliberately, but in a very weak 
voice, my wife left me for a few hours. We were 
in utter poverty, for our little all had been stolen 
from us by my wife’s brother-in-law. You may have 
guessed already that I was not always w^hat I appear 
now. At one time ” 

‘‘But,” I interrupted, “had you not better tell me 
why you have brought me here, before ” 

“Before it is too late, eh.? You’re right. Well, 
my wife left me on a desperate errand. She went to 
ask for money from some one over whom she had a 
great hold — and — and she never came home.” 

He paused to gain breath. My heart beat 
violently as I noted the great effort he had to make 
for respiration. 

“The man she went to see w^s who ? ” 

“Wait! By mere accident she knew his secret 
One night, a long time ago, she told me that a gold 


i88 


GUILTY BONDS. 


mine had been opened to her. In the City, at a 
public-house where she had called, she met her sister 
Jane, who gave her a five-pound note. A few days 
afterwards Nell went to see some gentleman, and 
came home with a lot of money. She said she knew 
a secret out of which we both might make our 
fortunes. In the meantime Jane had disappeared. 
They were sisters, and so much alike that one could 
scarcely tell the difference. Open the box with this 
key, and give me the portrait you’ll find there.” 

Chafing with impatience I did as he required and 
quickly found the picture. 

The little photograph was of the ordinary cheap 
pattern, and presented the features of a rather at- 
tractive young woman. 

‘‘This,” said my strange narrator, taking it in 
his trembling hand, “is my wife’s picture, and it 
will do very well for Jane’s. We saw little of 
her, as she moved about so much, sometimes in 
England and sometimes abroad.” 

“Really this does not throw much light on the 
occurrence, ” I remarked. ‘ ‘ What connects me with 
all this.?” 

“The fact that you witnessed the murder at Bed- 
ford Place,” he replied. “You have seen the man 
who killed Mrs. Inglewood, and he also, I am certain, 
murdered my wife ! You may well stare ; but con- 
sider well, as I have done, and you will come to the 


G UIL TY BONDS. 1 89 

same conclusion. When Nell left me she said, 
‘Good-bye Ned ; I know it’s a dangerous errand I’m 
on, but don’t fret.' It was dangerous — fatal. When 
I found she did not return I went out. It was dark, 
and a very few steps from my door I stumble on a 
drunken woman lying in a corner. When I looked 
closer my head reeled, and I nearly fainted — it was 
Nell ! On her breast was the — the ” 

“ The seal ! ” I exclaimed. 

He did not answer. Gradually his voice had 
become fainter, till it was only by placing my ear 
almost to his mouth that I caught the feebly-uttered 
syllables. 

Putting the candle to his face I saw that his eyes 
were fixed on vacancy, while huge drops of dank 
perspiration stood upon the tightly-drawn skin of 
the forehead. 

Evidently my mysterious acquaintance was dying 
rapidly. What was to be done ? 

The fatal secret was yet locked in his bosom. 

Maddened with a feverish anxiety I emptied the 
brandy remaining in the flask down his throat, after- 
wards wiping his pallid face with my handkerchief. 

My efforts for a time seemed in vain, but by 
degrees the breathing became more perceptible. 
Presently he opened his eyes. 

“ Thanks, thanks,” he murmured, his hands clutch- 
ing convulsively over mine with each respiration. 


190 


GUILTY BONDS. 


Are you better now ? ” I asked. 

He disregarded my question, and appeared to be 
endeavoring to recall his thoughts. 

“Ah, yes, it was the seal that was on Nell, — 
yes, the seal, and I took it off. It’s in the box, along 
with the portrait.” 

“And you wanted me — for what.?” I said, in- 
quiringly, for he seemed to be losing himself 
again. 

“ You .? Who are you ? ” 

The question fell with a terrible weight upon 
my ears — it was clear that the man’s senses had 
fled. 

“Frank Burgoyne is my name,” was my reply. 
“You were going to tell me who it was your wife 
went to see, and why you wanted me.” 

“Wanted you.? Ah, yes! I’ve seen you before 
— in Drury Lane. Nell showed you to me, for 
you gave evidence at the inquest. Yes, I’ve seen 
you ! ” 

In a moment the remembrance of that mysterious 
encounter in Drury Lane came vividly back to me. 

Was this the suspicious character who had come 
up as if he meant to speak to me, and who after- 
wards vanished? 

There was something very awful in the ravings 
of that man during the next quarter of a hour. At 
times he was apparently hiding like a beaten hound, 


GUILTY BONDS. 


191 

cringing and whining, while from the mention of 
the Junior Garrick Club it struck me that he was, in 
imagination, pleading to be allowed to stay outside 
the club house. 

“ I will see him ! I ivill wait, if I stay here till I 
die ! ” he yelled wildly, struggling to rise. 

My endeavors to hold him down were at length 
successful, and, apparently exhausted, he lay back, 
groaning and muttering. 

Slowly and wearily the time passed. When at 
last I looked at my watch its hands pointed to the 
hour of half-past four. 

In a frenzy of excitement I listened breathlessly 
for every word, hoping to catch some clue to the 
problem. The sick man moaned and ground his 
teeth, ever and anon raising his voice, startling me 
with the suddenness of the outbursts. Lower and 
lower sank the candle in its socket, until I feared 
that unless the day soon dawned we should be in 
darkness. 

A cold shiver ran through me. 

Then strain was beginning to take effect ; my 
limbs trembled with the tension to which my nerves 
subjected them. 

Presently the day broke, and never was it more 
welcome. 

The candle had just flickered and died out when 
the injured man spoke with startling distinctness. 


192 


GUILTY BONDS. 


*‘You shall be revenged, Nell, never fear! Fll 
find him. He has seen him once — red-handed then. 
The blood was upon him — he shall be richly re- 
paid 1 

Was he talking of me ? I had seen the murderer 
once, certainly. 

“ I tell you I will ! My oath is sacred. Who will 
believe me, without him — without Burgoyne ? ” he 
continued in his delirium. 

Hoping a sudden fright might bring him to con- 
sciousness, I laid my hand upon his arm sharply, 
and exclaimed, — 

“ What do you want me to do ? ” 

Seemingly startled for a moment, he was silent. 
Then he asked, — 

“ What time is it ? ” 

“ Half-past six,” I answered. 

'‘I’ve told you all. That cursed fall last night 
has done for me ; or I would have gone with you — 

gone with you to — to ” 

Again he faltered. The fingers which I clasped 
seemed to stiffen around mine and grow cold. 

' He was dying ! 

" For Heaven’s sake bear up a few moments I ” I 
implored. “There must be' a doctor about now. 
See, it’s getting light ! ” 

Those dark eyes which had pierced me on the 
previous night once more turned to mine. In their 


GUILTY BONDS. 


193 


f 

depths a film was gathering. He motioned that he 
wished to speak, and I leaned down till my face 
almost touched his. 

“Well.?’' I inquired, kindly and softly. 

“ It’s— for— Nell— I ” 

All was over ! 

For a few seconds I was stunned. It seemed im- 
possible that he was dead — it was not to be realized, 
in spite of the inanimate body before me. 

Then suddenly I gazed about me. 

The noise of busy London was in my ears ; the 
day was before me. No more could be learnt from 
the corpse — why should I stay ? 

Hastily putting the photograph and the piece of 
sealed paper into my pocket, I turned and left the 
room. 

The energy of the movement was so great that as 
I opened the door my attention was attracted by 
the skirt of a woman’s dress disappearing round a 
corner of the landing. 

In spite of my haste, however, the person had 
gone when I reached the door of the house and- 
stepped into the street. There was no one visible. 

Then I remembered an omission. 

Retracing my steps, I regained the attic. The 
body lay rigid and cold as I had left it a few minutes 
before. 

I closed the eyes, and then went home. 

13 


194 


GUILTY BONDS, 


CHAPTER XXIII. 

THE DEAD WOMAn’s PICTURE. 

About seven that evening I turned out of the 
Charing Cross Hotel, where I had taken up a tem- 
porary abode, and strolled down the Strand towards 
the club, having arranged to dine there with Bob 
and Rivers. 

Deeply meditating, endeavoring to account for 
the strange events of the early morning, I was 
heedless of those around me, and unconscious of 
the presence of any one I knew until I felt a smart 
slap on the back and heard a voice shout, — 

“ Hulloa, old fellow ! Found you at last ! Why, 
you look as glum as if you’d been to a funeral.” 

It was Demetrius Hertzen. 

*'What! you in London?” I cried in genuine 
surprise, heartily glad to meet him. 

“Yes, you left the Dene in such an uncommonly 
mysterious manner, and Vera is so cut up, that I 
thought I’d come to town, find you, and prevail 
upon you to return.” 

Linking his arm in mine, he walked in my direct 
tion, as he added, “What’s the meaning of all this? 


GUILTY BONDS. 


I9S 

Surely you can confide in me, my dear fellow ; I 
am your wife’s cousin.” 

I hesitated. Should I tell him .? I longed to do so, 
and was on the verge of disclosing my secret feelings 
when suddenly I remembered the promise I had made 
to Vera to wait three weeks for her explanation. 

“Well,” I replied endeavoring to smile, but 
scarcely succeeding, “it is all owing to a few hasty 
words. Husbands and wives will have little differ- 
ences sometimes, you know.” 

He laughed lightly, and regarding me critically 
for a moment, said, — 

“Ah ! I see. A lover’s quarrel, eh } Why don’t 
you return to Elveham and end all this unpleasant- 
ness ? It would be far better. ” 

I felt his advice was well-meant, and from the 
bottom of my heart I thanked him, yet how could I 
act upon it ? Three long anxious weeks must pass 
before any explanation. 

“No,” I answered, “I’ll remain in London, at 
least for the present. I don’t know exactly when I 
shall return.” 

“Oh, for Heaven’s sake, don’t talk so despond- 
ently. Remember it’s only a petty quarrel, after 
all,” he declared, endeavoring to cheer me up. 

I tried again to laugh, saying, “Yes, that’s true, 
but absence makes the heart grow fonder— we’re 
told.” 


196 


GUILTY BONDS. 


“Very well, old fellow, if you won’t take my 
advice I can’t help it,” he observed disappointedly. 

By this time we were at the corner of Adam Street, 
and I exclaimed, “ By the way, what are you doing 
with yourself this evening ? ” 

“ Nothing. ” 

‘'Come and have a bit of dinner with Bob Nugent 
and myself at the Junior Garrick ; I’m on my way 
there. ” 

“Thanks, you’re very kind. By Jove, I’ve had 
nothing to eat since I left the Dene, and I’m getting 
a trifle peckish ! ” 

“Then come along,” I commanded. We turned 
into the Adelphi, and entered the club. 

In the pleasant oak-panelled dining-room, the 
windows of which commanded a view of the Em- 
bankment Gardens and the river, half-a-dozen men 
had assembled. At one of the tables Nugent and 
Rivers were awaiting me. 

They both rose and gave me a hearty greeting on 
entering, and, in turn, I introduced Demetrius, who, 
by his ready wit and entertaining manner, soon in- 
gratiated himself with my two old friends. 

Rivers was, like most members of that Bohemian 
institution, a devil-may-care, erratic fellow, whom 
the outside world regarded as rather a shady char- 
acter. Nobody knew exactly what was his profes- 
sion. Since I first became acquainted with him, in 


GUILTY BONDS. 


197 

the days when I was a working journalist, he had 
been, first, an actor, then manager of a touring 
dramatic company, a playwright, and afterwards 
traveller for a firm of wine merchants, besides exe- 
cuting commissions on the turf. Cards and billiards 
he played with skill acquired by long practice, and 
was usually victor whenever he took a hand at nap 
or baccarat. 

I had not seen him since my Italian tour, as he 
had suddenly embarked for Australia, presumably 
upon business connected with a theatrical specula- 
tion, although compulsory exile had more than 
once been hinted at by those who were not his 
friends. 

Be that how it may, he was back again. His 
age was about thirty, tall, dark, and not bad look- 
ing. The beard he had grown had considerably 
altered his appearance, and had I met him in the 
street I confess I should scarcely have recognized 
him. 

Many were the whispers I had heard that Ted 
Rivers was not a model of uprightness ; neverthe- 
less, I had always found him a good-hearted, genial 
Philistine in my bachelor days, and now, over our 
meal, he cracked his jokes and beamed with that 
bonhomie as was his wont in times gone by. 

Bob, Ted, Demetrius and myself, were a merry 
quartette, despite the anxiety and the many mad- 


GUILTY BONDS. 


198 

dening thoughts gnawing constantly at my heart. 
The dinner passed off pleasantly, Ted giving a hu- 
morous description of life among Australian squatters. 
Although he asserted that dramatic business took 
him to the Antipodes, he admitted that he had been 
compelled to go up-country in search of work, and 
that his employment at one period had been that of 
a shepherd in Gippsland. 

His description of the shifts which he had been 
put to in order to obtain a crust — he, a curled dar- 
ling of Society, whilom actor at a West End theatre, 
and pet of the ladies — was very amusing, and caused 
us to roar with laughter. 

And how have you been all this time, Bur- 
goyne ? ” he asked of me, when he had finished his 
narrative. 

“ Oh ! Frank’s a Benedict now,” interposed Bob, 
laughing. “ Married a fair Russian.” 

“What!” exclaimed Ted in surprise. “Well, 
well, it’s what all of us must come to, sooner or 
later. But Burgoyne’s different from us poor beg- 
gars; he’s rich, and can afford matrimony.” 

“ I don’t see what money has to do with it,” I 
said. “ Many poor men are happy with good 
helpmates.” 

“Oh 1 don’t you,” exclaimed Rivers. “ My idea 
is that marriage without money is suicide under an 
euphonious name.” 


GUILTY BONDS. 


199 

Opinions differ on that point,” remarked Deme- 
trius. “ If I married a woman I loved, I think I 
should be happy with her, money or no money. 
But excuse me a moment, you fellows, IVe left my 
cigar-case in my overcoat,” and rising, he left the 
table. 

“Ah, cigars!” I said, suddenly remembering. 
“ I’ve some somewhere,” and feeling in my pocket 
for my case, pulled forth a number of letters and 
papers with it. 

I did so without a thought, but a second later I 
regretted, for from between the letters there fell 
a photograph, face upwards upon the table-cloth. 

It was the picture the dead man had given me 
on the previous night. 

I placed my hand upon it, but before I could do 
so, Bob had snatched it up, exclaiming, — 

“ Hulloa 1 carrying Vera’s photo about like a 
love-sick swain, eh? By Jove!” he ejaculated 
when he had glanced at it. “Ah! — I’ve caught 
you, have I ? Why, this isn’t Vera, but some other 
woman ! I’m surprised at you,” and he feigned the 
utmost indignation.” 

“ Let’s look ! ” demanded Rivers, taking it from 
Bob’s hand, as I vainly endeavored to regain pos- 
session of it. 

Ah— Heavens ! ” exclaimed Ted with a repug- 
nant gesture, when his eyes fell upon it. 


200 


GUILTY BONDS. 


What ! you know her, then ? ” asked Bob. 

No — er — no, my dear fellow,” replied the other 
hurriedly, with a curious smile. “ Never saw her 
in my life. The likeness is very like some one — 
some one I once knew,” he added hastily, as he 
scrutinized it carefully, looking upon the back at the 
name of the photographer. “ But I see I — I’m mis- 
taken, it isn’t she.” 

And he returned the picture to me. 

“Who’s the lady.?” inquired Bob. “Pretty 
woman, without a doubt.” 

“ Ask no questions,” I replied, smiling mysteri- 
ously. ‘ ‘ A purely private matter. ” 

“ Hum ! — those private matters are entertaining, 
sometimes,” remarked Ted, as he and Bob laughed 
at my confusion ; but as Demetrius returned just at 
that moment, the subject dropped. 

We went to the smoking-room and sat chatting 
over coffee and liqueurs, but I noticed a marked 
difference in the manner of Rivers. He was no 
longer gay, but gloomy and taciturn, and more 
than once I caught him regarding me with an evil, 
angry glitter in his dark eyes, and a scowl upon his 
features. The others noticed it also, but made no 
remark. 

When the clock chimed ten Ted rose, and address- 
ing Nugent, said : “ You must excuse me, old fel- 
low, but I’ve an engagement which I must keep. 


GUILTY BONDS. 


201 


Sorry to have to leave you so early, but it’s a matter 
of rather urgent business.” 

“Oh, no. Stay another hour; the evening’s 
young yet,” urged Demetrius. 

“ Very sorry ; but I cannot.” 

“ Put off your engagement till to-morrow,” I sug- 
gested, but he made no reply, affecting not to have 
heard me. 

“ Well, if you must go, au revoir,'' Bob said, 
offering his hand. “ I’m here every evening, so I 
hope you’ll often drop in, now you have returned 
to civilization.” 

“ Thanks, I shall be glad to accept your hospital- 
ity until I can be re-elected a member.” 

He shook hands with Demetrius, but only placed 
the tips of his fingers in my hand, withdrawing 
them as if he were touching some unclean thing. 

Without wishing me good-night, he departed. 

An hour afterwards I returned to the hotel in deep 
soliloquy, wondering What this latest development 
meant. What connection could Rivers have with the 
murder of the woman whose photograph I had in 
my pocket } 

Why did he start on seeing the picture, and after- 
wards deny all knowledge of its original Why did 
he eye me so suspiciously } 

Was he the murderer of the dead man’s wife, the 
unfortunate Nell, who was found killed by an un- 


/ 


202 GUILTY BONDS. 

i:nown hand, on the night after my return 
Russia ? 

Deeply exercised in mind over this increased com- 
plication, I sat in my room until the small hours, 
then — heartily sick of it all — I sought repose. 


GUILTY BONDS. 


203 


CHAPTER XXIV. 

DOUBTS AND FEARS. 

“You seemed so out of sorts last night, ffank, 
old chap, that I thought I'd just drop in and see 
whether you could be cheered up a bit. ” 

“You’re very kind, Bob,” I said, cracking a 
matutinal egg, for I was breakfasting ; “ I’m afraid 
it’s a little more serious than being out of sorts just 
now. ” 

Bob laid his hand kindly upon my shoulder, ex- 
claiming earnestly, — 

“That’s exactly what I expected. You and I 
used to be old chums — now, is it so private that you 
can’t confide in me, and let me see what I can do, 
if anything .? ” 

“ The fact is I’m just desperate, and don’t know 
which way to turn for the best,” was my answer, 
with a savage curse to myself. 

“Look here, Frank, remember that I am speak- 
ing seriously. In the old days we had many a 
' spree ’ together — to use a colloquialism — and per- 
haps our actions, judged from a high standard of 
morality, were not all they might have been. You 


204 


GUILTY BONDS. 


know very well that I’ve never pretended to be a 
saint, and that I never preach because I can’t be 
such a confounded hypocrite as to rail at others for 
being as foolish as myself — and — and you’ll believe, 
I hope, that I’m sincere in saying this — that you 
are doing yourself an injustice, and Vera also, if 
there’s any truth in what we teased you about last 
night.” 

Never had I seen Bob so much in earnest before, 
and certainly he had never made such a speech in 
this life. Dear old Bob, he was a right good fellow 
at heart, after all ! 

“What do you mean.?” I exclaimed, although 
there was an uneasy consciousness that I was to 
blame. 

“Why, to speak plainly, if you have married 
Vera, and love her, you should not carry another 
woman’s photograph. You should not leave your 
wife at Elveham. You know what I mean, well 
enough.” 

A light dawned upon me. Bob thought the 
picture was that of some courtesan ! 

“Confound it all, old fellow, you jump to con- 
clusions too readily,” I replied, with justifiable 
warmth. 

“Well, what does it mean, then.? ” he asked, 
adding, “I don’t wish to pry into your secrets, but 
you’ll excuse me endeavoring, even just a little, to 


GUILTY BONDS. 


205 


pull you up when you seem off the straight line. I 
should thank any one for doing so for me, if they 
meant it honestly.” 

“ Tm sure you would, Bob. This, I may tell you, 
is simply a little tiff which Vera and I have had, 
owing — oh, well, perhaps thafs sufficient.” 

“I see. You don’t care to confide in me, there- 
fore as Fve business waiting for me, Til wish you 
good-bye,” he said, rather sadly, rising and extend- 
ing his hand. 

“ Sit down. Bob, and don’t make a fool of yourself. 
How can I explain to you what I don’t myself un- 
derstand .? Answer me that, my Christian moralizer.” 

“Then it has to do with her secret, eh.? Have 
you never fathomed that yet ? ” he asked, eagerly, 
sinking into his chair again. 

“What the devil do you know of her secret.? ” I 
demanded, in intense surprise. “How did you 
know there was one in connection with her.? ” 

“Partly from my own observation, and partly 
from what I picked up after you left Genoa so sud- 
denly. At that time I did not know you were going 
to marry her, or possibly I should not have been so 
inquisitive,” he replied rather disinterestedly. 

“Then perhaps you can solve some of these 
mysteries that have puzzled me so long .? Come, tell 
me everything about it. Bob, and you’ll do me an 
inestimable service. However it may be viewed, I 


2o6 


GUILTY BONDS. 


strive to convince myself that Vera is not to blame. 
Don’t keep me in suspense — tell me at once, is that 
so?” 

Here was the grand chance come at last. Now 
I should hear that for which my ears had been on 
the alert all these weary months. 

Bob regarded me with a stare of curiosity, min- 
gled with suspicion, and maintained silence for a 
few moments. Then he said, incredulously, — 

“Is it possible there is anything unknown to you, 
save what we used to discuss when we first met 
your wife ? ” 

“ I’m absolutely ignorant of all save the fact that, 
with an infatuation for which I cannot account, I 
loved Vera and married her. I love her still, in spite 

of Oh, I cannot go further ! For Heaven’s sake 

tell me all you know now, at once, or I shall not 
retain my senses ! ” 

Bob’s face was a study for a time. It apparently 
struck him that I was playing a part and wished to 
learn the depth of his knowledge regarding my wife. 
After a short pause, however, he continued, and 
imparted to me the first facts I had ever learned on 
this mysteriously-guarded point. 

“Well, you see, after you left Genoa business com- 
pelled me to return. I was thrown on my own re- 
sourdes for a day or two, and during that period I 
made it a point to keep my ears open so as to catch 


GUILTY BONDS. 


207 

anything I could regarding the mysterious fair one 
who had so interested us. Having a friend with me 
who was known at the police bureau it needed not 
a great deal of ingenuity to ascertain a few par- 
ticulars. The first thing that came to light was the 
fact that old Hertzen, the grumbling uncle, was 
living under an assumed name.” 

“Vera’s uncle ! Was he — is he — not her uncle ? ” 
I exclaimed. 

“Oh, yes ; he’s her uncle, I believe,” replied my 
friend, placidly. “It was not surprising that he 
was — and is — assuming another patronymic, be- 
cause, being a Russian exile ” 

“An exile ! ” 

“My dear fellow, do not keep interrupting. Yes, 
I say, being a Russian exile, for some offence or 
other, it was quite a reasonable deceit to practise. 
But, while it was almost certain that Hertzen was 
not his real name, it was equally certain that he was 
some relation of Vera’s, for he lavished a vast 
amount of care and attention on her which could 
not be accounted for on any other supposition. At 
the same time it was very curious that my informant 
would not say who he believed Hertzen to be, so 
on that point I am still quite ignorant. ” 

“Go on, go on, please; and remember that I 
want to know about Vera,” I said, with some im- 
patience. 


2o8 


GUILTY BONDS. 


Listen, then. Your wife’s father was a Russian 
Count, a man of great wealth, who lived at Warsaw ! 
Vera, his daughter, developed into the beautiful girl 
we met. Count Nicholas Seroff, her father, was a 
brave and loyal soldier, and when the Turko-Russian 
War broke out in 1877 was placed in a responsible 
position. He had previously served with great dis- 
tinction in the Crimea, where he gained the sky- 
blue ribbon of St. Andrew ‘ For Faith and Loyalty.”" 
Bob paused. 

After the war, the count retired to his house in 
the Njazlov at Warsaw, where he bestowed all his 
paternal affection on Vera. The two became in- 
separable, and for a long time, I hear, lived together 
as one soul.” 

"‘For a long time, you hear — what happened 
then .? ” 

‘‘We met them at Genoa.” 

“But do you mean to say your information ended 
abruptly at this point } Have you learned nothing 
since } ” 

“Nothing whatever. I did not trouble after my 
return to think any more about the matter. It was 
only while we were both interested in her that I was 
interested. You don’t think,” added he, in a half- 
jesting manner, “that I have nothing else to do but 
to run after every pretty girl who appears to have 
a romantic mystery about hej:, do you ? ” 


GUILTY Bonus. 


209 

** Are you speaking seriously ? ” I asked, my hopes 
sinking as rapidly as they had risen. 

'‘Quite,’’ was his reply. 

‘•Why did you not tell me this on my return, 
when we saw her at the theatre, together.? You 
knew all about it then, and you also knew how anx- 
ious I was.” 

“True, but you did not broach the subject, and as 
soon as we caught sight of her you seemed fasci- 
nated, leaving me almost at once, so that I had no 
chance. ” 

“But there were plenty of occasions afterwards,” 
I contended impatiently. 

Bob did not seem perturbed in the least. He 
merely lit another cigarette, as he replied, — 

“Whenever I saw you afterwards you were so dis- 
tant and uncommunicative that it appeared as if you 
knew far more than you apparently did. As you 
were still interested in her and her movements it was 
not my place to take the initiative.” 

“And even if you had,” I rejoined, speaking 
rather warmly, for my disappointment was galling, 
“it would not have greatly mattered; you don’t 
seem to know a great deal, after all. It does not 
make very much difference. ” 

“Look here, Burgoyne, it is no use attempting to 
hide your thoughts from me in this matter. It ap- 
pears as if you wish me to think you are sorry I know 


210 


GUILTY BONDS. 


SO little. Perhaps you are secretly glad that such 
is the case, eh ? It would be awkward for some of 
your wife’s relations to find that photograph in your 
pocket, under these circumstances — what is your 
opinion .? Those hot-blooded counts are very jeal- 
ous relatives, I believe, and ’’ 

“By Heaven ! you wrong me there. Bob,’’ I re- 
torted, touched to the quick by the sneer. “ In spite 
of all Vera’s treachery — in spite of our quarrels, I have 
never, for an instant been untrue to her — never ! ” 

“Very well,” was his cool reply, “let us admit 
that. Can you, however, honestly explain your con- 
fusion — to say nothing of Rivers’ amazement — when 
it was produced } ” 

This direct question nonplussed me entirely. To 
explain all the facts without exposing Vera — which I 
was determined not to do — at first appeared a sheep 
impossibility. Bob watched my vain endeavors to 
think it out with clearness for several minutes. 

Neither of us spoke. Leaning back in his chair he 
watched the smoke from his cigarette curl upwards. 
Then he rose again, and said in a tone of voice very 
sad for me to hear : 

“Well, don’t trouble to reply to that last query of 
mine, Frank, if it causes you pain. I was a fool to 
make it. Good-bye, ” and he held forth his hand. 

“Stay,” I urged, “I’ll explain it as well as I can, 
if you’ll have patience.” 


GUILTY BONDS. 


2II 


I had made up my mind to tell Bob as much as I 
could of the mystery surrounding the dead man, and 
ask his assistance. 

Silently and almost incredulously he listened to 
my statement, as I briefly ran over the events of the 
night I had spent with the stranger. When I had 
finished, he asked, — 

And did you leave the body there, and not utter 
a word to any one ? That was scarcely like yourself, 
was it ? ” 

But what was I to do ? I should have been mixed 
up in the scandal again ; and the question arises, 
where would it have ended ? ” 

“And did you not search that box for further proof 
of his assertion ? There might have been valuable 
evidence there.” 

“ There might ! What an idiot I must have been 
not to think of that at the time. Supposing there 
were letters from — from 

“From the murderer? That is quite possible. 
Why not go and look at once?” 

After discussing the matter at some length, it was 
decided that as soon as night fell I should go to the 
house alone, so as to lessen the risk of detection, 
and search the box. With this arrangement we 
separated, a load having been taken off my mind 
by this even partial confession to Bob. 


212 


GUILTY BONDS. 


CHAPTER XXV. 

A MIDNIGHT SEARCH. 

The hours crept on very slowly that day. To 
me they seemed interminable. A thousand times I 
glanced at the little clock that ticked so sharply on 
the mantelshelf, but its small hand sullenly, as it 
seemed, refused to move any faster. 

Feeling that the suspense was becoming unbear- 
able, I tried a short walk in the Strand. Scarcely 
had I gone a hundred yards along that busy thorough- 
fare before I espied Demetrius. He was strolling 
along in the same aimless fashion as myself. At 
first my impulse was to go and salute him, for his 
cheerful companionship might do much to arrest 
my melancholy feelings, and make the time pass 
rapidly. My next thought, however, was to avoid 
him, for he would be certain to notice my preoccu- 
pation, and might put me to trouble in framing eva- 
sive answers. 

While I was thus debating with myself, he settled 
the point by catching sight of me and coming cheer- 
fully up. 

‘‘Hey-day! and why so cheerless?” he cried, as 


GUILTY BONDS. 


213 


he clasped me warmly by the hand. It was a fa- 
vorite expression of his, and one which he very fre- 
quently used, in spite of its antiquated ring. 

^‘Did I look cheerful.?’’ I responded, purposely 
answering his inquiry oppositely. “The fact is I’ve 
come out to kill an hour or two,, and when one is 
seeking amusement it’s not difficult to find it in the 
streets of this great city of ours, is it .? ” 

He glanced at me with a curious expression in his 
eyes, and I wondered whether he saw through the 
forced flippancy of my reply. 

“That’s it, is it?” he remarked. “Well, come 
aloiig, and we’ll do our best to destroy some of your 
dread enemy. Time, for a while,” and forthwith he 
hurried me along several miles of streets, bustling 
among the people right and left, and keeping up a 
constant chatter which did much to relieve me, as 
all I need do was to return a fragmentary answer 
when occasion offered. 

Presently, when we had reached a quiet corner, 
where conversation was much easier, I said, — 

“By the way, now I think of it ; where are you 
* hanging out ’ ? ” 

He burst into a loud laugh as he asked, — 

“Is it possible you don’t know?” 

“’Pon my honor, it never occurred to me to in- 
quire till this moment. Where are you staying? ” 
“No. 1 71/’ he answered; still laughing. 


214 


GUILTY BONDS. 


“No. 1 71 where — why don’t you speak plainly, 
and not keep a fellow waiting when he wants to get 
to his hotel to keep an appointment ” 

“What ! another engagement ! — with the lady 
whose photograph you were passing to the fellows 
at the Junior Garrick last night, eh .? I heard about 
it, old fellow,” he exclaimed, evidently thinking he 
had a fine chance to chaff me. Seeing my frown at 
the reference, he continued : “Seriously, it is curious 
you did not know of my whereabouts. My room is 
1 71 at the Charing Cross Hotel, and yours is 172 — 
now do you see why I laughed ? ” 

“Your room next to mine!” I said in concern, 
the thought that perhaps he might have overheard 
my interview with Frank that morning suddenly 
occurring to me. 

“Well, there’s nothing to be alarmed at, is there? 
I’ve not escaped from quarantine. By the way, I 
took an opportunity of calling upon you this morn- 
ing, and as you did not notice my timid rap — you 
know I always give a timid rap, for you’ve often 
laughed at it — I peeped in. You were, however, so 
deeply ingrossed in conversation with your friend 
Nugent that I did not think fit to disturb you, and 
came away. He’s an old friend of yours, isn’t he ? ” 
he asked, carelessly. 

When Demetrius told me this my heart stood still ; 
yet what was there to fear ? I could have as well 


GUILTY BONDS. 


215 

trusted him as Frank. Yet somehow the idea of 
Demetrius knowing about this was intensely dis- 
agreeable, especially after his ironical reference to 
the photograph, which had been uttered in a rather 
threatening tone. 

Hastily muttering something about being sorry he 
had not come in as Bob was very good company, I 
looked at my watch and bade him an abrupt adieu. 
He seemed inclined to walk back with me, but see- 
ing his intention I called a cab and bade the driver 
hurry to the hotel. 

There is an indistinct recollection in my mind of 
having eaten a hasty dinner, but whether I really 
did so that eventful evening or not is a matter of 
speculation. At all events, I wrapped up warmly, 
for it was a wet night and the prospect was anything 
but inviting. 

Determining to have a sharp walk in order to set 
my blood in circulation, I had started out, when it 
occurred to me that, having a good round sum in 
notes in my pocket, it would be policy to leave them 
behind. Hurrying back I did this, and turned out 
sundry valuables from my pocket-book. Then the 
seal, on its blood-stained and crumpled paper, be- 
came apparent in the depths of the wallet and the 
question arose, should I leave that also ? 

Since the night when it was given me by the 
trembling hands of the man whose room I was now 


2i6 


GUILTY BONDS. 


about to invade, it had rested securely there, for I 
had been afraid to let it out of my possession on any 
account. It would perhaps be best to leave it at 
the hotel, under lock and key, so I put it in a little 
cash-box in my portmanteau. But the next moment 
a superstitious dread seized me, and I replaced it 
again in the pocket-book, and then once more started 
on my adventurous errand. 

Before long I reached the spot. It was a rather 
tall house, uninhabited apparently, for its lower 
windows were covered with hoarding, and generally 
the structure bore a grim, uninviting appearance. 
On the first occasion, when the poor fellow had 
dragged me there in a kind of mad frenzy, I had 
not taken particular notice of the manner in which 
we effected our entrance, but, as there was no one 
about, I made a careful scrutiny of a side-door. 

As I gave it a violent push the noise resounded 
through the empty place with such a hollow clamor 
that a chill fell upon my heart, and, save for the 
intense curiosity which possessed me, I should have 
come away, leaving the place unexplored. 

But this was rendered impossible, for, although 
the moment had been carefully chosen when there 
was not a person in sight, my indecision, lasting for 
several minutes, brought other consequences in its 
train. The corner where the door was located was 
a dark one, it was true, yet, as the measured tread 


GUILTY BONDS. 


217 

of a constable fell upon my strained ears, I saw 
immediate action was imperative. The prospect of 
a bull’s-eye lantern being suddenly flashed upon one 
was not at all encouraging, and was not to be faced. 

Another and stronger jerk at the door proved that 
it was fastened, or that something so obstructed its 
opening that more force, and therefore more noise, 
was needed. This would not do ; therefore, sum- 
moning up some of my old courage and resolution 
which had unaccountably deserted me of late, I 
speedily clambered in by a small window, through 
the broken upper panes of which it was easy to put 
one’s hand to turn the catch. 

Having done this, and replaced, as well as possible 
in the circumstances, the piece of hoarding, I al- 
lowed the constable to pass on before moving further. 
My heart beat high for a moment as the glare from 
his lantern flashed through the chinks and lighted, 
like the gleaming of a fire, the miserable and musty- 
smelling apartment ; but he passed on unheedingly, 
unsuspicious of the stealthy intruder near him. 

When he had gone, all was dark. Never will the 
memory of that miserable contretemps be surpassed 
by a more disheartening experience. It required 
several minutes’ careful search to find the stairs, and 
my hands encountered all sorts of horrible recesses, 
as, painfully and slowly I. felt my way about. 

The only occasion like it was when, in that 


2i8 


GUILTY BONDS. 


dreary Russian dungeon, my hands had discovered 
the fatal seal. My thoughts instantly reverted to 
that night, then many months ago, and it felt to my 
excited and over-wrought nerves, that every crack 
my fingers found were portions of the occult inscrip- 
tion. 

As I at last ascended the stairs my memory en- 
deavored to recall the position of the room in which 
I had left the body. It was certainly at the top of 
the house, for our ascent, in his weak state, had 
occupied some time. 

Arrived at the top landing I struck a match, for it 
was evident that it would not be observed at such a 
height. To my surprise {here were only two rooms, 
both entirely empty, one so small that it certainly 
could not have been the one in which that eventful 
night had been spent. The other was also small, 
and had not the shape that I remembered. 

Obviously there was some mistake in my calcula- 
tions, and dropping the burnt match upon the carpet- 
less boards, I resumed my search, this time in a 
downward direction. 

And now an eventhappened which added increased 
risk to the adventure, and which, even after the 
lapse of many months since its occurrence, I cannot 
think of without a thrill of excitement. 

In treading upon the match my face in some way 
became reversed, so that my next steps, carefully 


GUILTY BONDS. 


219 


guided as I was by the wall, were in the wrong 
direction. The first indication I had of this was a 
collision, with some force, with the balustrades of 
the stairs. These appeared to be very old and 
rickety, for as my heavy frame dealt them a blow 
they shook and rattled ominously. 

To seize them convulsively was the work of an 
instant ; but, quick as thought, I had drawn back 
and thrown myself on my side. 

After swaying for a second, the heavy railing 
plunged forward and fell with a sound almost like 
thunder down the whole height of the building, 
bumping from stage to stage in the most hideous 
manner. 

I was saved ; but what next ! 

For a time I lay and listened, as little pieces of 
plaster rolled down the stairs and the rats scuttled 
restlessly about. Then, half-dazed, I felt for the 
matches, which, happily, were safe in my pocket. 

By the dim light given by one of these it was easy 
to see my horrible position, perched on the edge of 
the landing, some part of my long ulster actually 
hanging over the side. 

Below, all was dark. 

A dense cloud seemed rising between my eyes 
and the match slowly burning itself out. 

The choking sensation told me that it was a cloud 
of dust raised by the fall of so much plaster. 


220 


GUIL TY BONDS. 


After waiting for a short time, scarcely daring to 
breathe, I struck another match, and again looked 
around. 

The cloud had disappeared, but my clothes were 
whitened, indicating where its particles had settled. 

Then the match burnt my fingers, and as it dropped 
down into the Stygian darkness I could descry 
its course till it became merely a faint red speck in 
that great depth. 

Lighting yet another match, and making a great 
effort to pull myself together, I slowly and carefully 
rose and crept away from that dangerous spot. 

Why need I go into further detail ? Let it suffice 
for me to state that, with care and eagerness, I 
searched every room I could find, till my patience 
and my matches were exhausted — yet without avail. 

Evidently I had entered the wrong house ! 

On the bottom flight I had to encounter and pass 
over the debris which had fallen from above. The 
task was a difficult and perilous one, but eventually 
reaching the bottom, I stood on firm ground. 

My journey had been for naught ; my clothes 
were covered with a white powder which all my 
resources failed to remove ; and the task of regain- 
ing the street unobserved and unsuspected remained 
to be accomplished 

I listened attentively. There was not a sound to 
be heard. All was silent and gloomy, save where 


GUILTY BONDS, 


221 


the light from a street lamp shone through a distant 
window in another room, making the outline of the 
door dimly visible. 

Cautiously and carefully I essayed to reach the 
pavement by the window which had afforded me an 
entrance. 

Suddenly I was startled by my wrists being 
seized from the outside, the hoarding removed in 
a trice, and ere an exclamation could escape me, I 
found myself in the grasp of a couple of stalwart 
constables. 

“What are you doing here — eh?” one asked, 
roughly, turning the insufferable glare of his lantern 
into my eyes. 

I tried to answer, but a dimness seemed to come 
over me, and the only recollection that remains of 
what followed was of darting across a road accom- 
panied by my two captors, one of whom held me on 
each side. 

“ ‘ Being on unoccupied premises, supposed for an 
unlawful purpose — ’ eh ? ” suggested the man on my 
right. 

“That’s it,” replied the other, who had, first spoken 

■ \ \ 

to me. 


Then I was dragged into a police-station. 



222 


GUILTY BONDS. 


CHAPTER XXVI. 

QUEER STRAITS. 

“Well, constable, what’s the charge? ” asked the 
inspector on duty, turning on his stool and survey- 
ing me critically. 

“ Found him getting through the window of a 
house in Angel Court, Drury Lane, sir. The place 
is unoccupied, and we arrested him in the act of 
coming out,” replied the man nearest me. 

“ Stolen anything ? ” 

“ No, sir ; we think not : we haven’t searched the 
premises yet.” 

“ Put him in the dock.” 

“This way,” commanded the constable, and I 
followed him into a bare, unfurnished room, where 
I entered the prisoners’ dock, and leaned upon the 
steel rail, silent in perplexity. 

In a few moments the inspector came in and 
seated himself at the desk, saying, — 

“ Now then, look alive ; charge him, and get on 
your beat again.” 

“Stand up straight, I want to take your measure, ” 


GUILTY BONDS. 


223 

the constable said, and as I obeyed, he exclaimed, 
“ Five-foot-nine.” 

What’s your name?” asked the officer, looking 
towards me. 

I hesitated. 

Give us your right one, now ; or it may go 
against you.” 

Why need I ? Was it not a disgrace to be ar- 
rested ? For Vera’s sake I felt I must keep the mat- 
ter secret. 

“ Harold Dobson,” I replied, uttering the first 
name that occurred to me. 

How old are you ? ” 

Twenty-nine.” The inspector filled in the 
charge-sheet. • 

“ Where do you live ? ” 

Again I hesitated. 

No use hatching up any lies ! Where do you 
live ? ” 

I refuse to say.” 

‘‘ Hum ! ” muttered the officer as if to himself. 

It’s only guilty persons who refuse their address ; 
but if you won’t answer, then there’s an end of it. 
What are you ? ” 

“ Nothing.” 

“ Gentleman at large, I suppose,” said he, 
smiling incredulously as he surveyed my clothes. 

“Very well ; no occupation,” and then there was 


224 


GUILTY BOiinS. 


a silence of some minutes, only broken by the hiss- 
ing- of the flaring gas-jet, and the monotonous 
scratching of the inspector’s quill. 

“ Sign your names,” he commanded, when he 
had finished ; and the two constables who had ar- 
rested me appended their signatures. 

“ Now, prisoner,” said the inspector, as he blotted 
the charge-sheet, ‘‘you are charged with breaking 
and entering the dwelling-house. Number 4, Angel 
Court, Drury Lane, for the purpose of committing a 
felony. I must caution you that any statement you 
make will be taken down and used as evidence 
against you.” 

“ I don’t see how I can be suspected of a felony 
when the place is unoccupied,” I jeplied. 

“You must leave that point to be decided to- 
morrow by the magistrate. A man don’t break into 
a house for nothing. ” 

“ Two days ago a man died in that house, and I 
was searching for his body in order to give you in- 
formation,” I said. 

“That can’t be true, sir,” interposed one of the 
men. “ The house hasn’t been lived in for a year 
or more.” 

“ Well, if a man died there a couple of days ago 
there would be surely be some furniture, or some 
traces of habitation. When he’s in the cell, go and 
examine the premises thoroughly. ” 


GUILTY BONDS. 


225 


Very well, sir,’’ the man answered. 

“Now,” said the inspector, turning to me, “have 
you anything more to say } ” 

“ Nothing ; I’ve told you the truth.” 

“Turn out your pockets. We’ll take care of your 
valuables,” he said laying stress on the last word, as 
if it were not likely my possessions were worth much. 

The constable lifted the bar allowing me to step 
from the dock, and I went to a small table and com- 
menced placing the contents of my pockets thereon. 
Some silver, my pocket-book, penknife, pencil-case, 
and other articles I produced, each of which were 
examined by the two men. 

The pocket-book, one that Vera had given me, 
attracted the most curiosity, and one of them opened 
it and commenced reading my memoranda, also 
scrutinizing the various papers and cards therein. 

“ Hulloa, what’s this?” he suddenly exclaimed, 
holding a piece of paper nearer his eyes and examin- 
ing it carefully. The ejaculation caused the other 
constable to peer over his shoulder, while the in- 
spector rose and walked towards them. 

It was then only that I recognized the horrifying re- 
ality. It was the fatal seal, the one given me by the 
strange man, now dead, that they had discovered ! 

“Why, great Heavens!” cried the inspector, as 
he took the paper from the man’s hand, “don’t 
you see ? It’s the seal that puzzled us so last year ! ’ 

15 


226 


GUILTY BONDS. 


“ Good God? so it is ! ” ejaculated both the men 
almost simultaneously, a look of abject astonishment 
upon their faces. 

The inspector lifted his eyes from the seal and 
glanced at me keenly. He had been thoroughly 
taken by surprise at the discovery, but did not lose 
his head. 

‘‘Warner,’' he said, hastily, addressing one of the 
men, “go round to the superintendent and ask him 
to come here at once.” 

“Right, sir ! ” and, swinging his cape around his 
shoulders, the man departed. 

“Richards, remain here with the prisoner,” he 
added, as he turned and left the charge-room 
also. 

A few moments later the sharp ring of the telegraph 
bell in the outer office broke upon my ear, followed 
by the whir-r and click of the instrument ; and with 
a sinking heart I knew that information of my .cap- 
ture was being flashed to Scotland Yard. 

For myself I cared nothing. I had never told 
Vera of my connection with that series of mysteri- 
ous crimes that had startled the country, and was 
only thinking of the means by which I could still 
keep her in ignorance of the facts. 

I had given a fictitious name and refused my ad- 
dress ; if I were firm and careful not to commit my- 
self I might still be able to keep my identity a secret. 


GUILTY BONDS. 


227 


What a fool I had been, thought I, not to have 
left the seal in the cash-box, as I first intended, and 
this reflection brought with it another, more mad- 
dening, when I remembered that, although I was 
bearing this oppression and mental torture for Vera’s 
sake, nevertheless I had found a portion of a seal at 
Elveham, identical with that which had produced 
such a consternation among the police. 

Again I was seized with that horrible apprehension 
that Vera wished to rid herself of me, and the seal I 
found in my library was to have been placed on the 
next victim — myself ! 

Why should I not make a clean breast of the 
matter to the inspector ? Vera had already proved 
herself base and treacherous. For her I had suffered 
enough in that Russian dungeon, at the horrors of 
which I involuntarily shuddered, even then. Were I 
to give my right name the suspicion could easily be 
removed, and I should be a free man. I was waver- 
ing. I own I felt almost inclined to do it. Then 
I reflected that my wife must know the secret of the 
seal, and that in the event of my release detectives 
would be busy. What if it were traced to her and 
she stood in the position I then was ? No, I decided 
to conceal my identity, come what might, for I had 
not forgotten the promise I made her before we 
parted. 

In a couple of weeks her explanation would be 


228 


GUILTY BONDS. 


forthcoming, and in the meantime the police might 
do their worst. 

Presently the inspector returned, and I was taken 
to a small room leading from the charge-room. 

“ How did this seal come into your possession ? ” 
the officer asked sharply. 

‘‘ It was given to me.” 

“By whom } ” 

“ By a man who is dead.” 

“ What was his name ? ” 

I do not know.” 

“You don’t know ; or you won’t tell me, which ? ” 

“I have. already answered.” 

“ We shall want to know more than that,” he said, 
ominously. 

“Unsatisfactory as my answer may be it is never- 
theless a fact,” I replied. 

“You expect us to believe it ? ” he asked with a 
suspicious smile. 

“Discredit it if you like, it’s all the same to me,” 
I replied rather disinterestedly, after which the 
officer turned on his heel and left. 

I sank upon a chair in a semi-exhausted state, and 
tried to think of some way out of this maze, for I 
could plainly see none of my statements appeared 
to have even the elements of truth. 

The constable stood silently at the door, his arms 
folded, his gaze fixed upon me. He was watching 


GUILTY BONDS. 


229 

me, fearing, perhaps, lest I should attempt suicide 
to escape justice. 

Shortly afterwards three men entered, accom- 
panied by the inspector. Two were detectives — I 
knew them at a glance — the other a tall, dark man, 
with curled moustaches, pointed beard, and a pair 
of keen gray eyes. He spoke with authority, in a 
sharp, abrupt tone, and, as I afterwards, discovered, 
I was correct in thinking him the superintendent of 
that division of Metropolitan police. 

“I understand you give a false name, refuse your 
address, and decline to say how you came possessed 
of this seal ? ” he said to me. 

“The seal was given me by a man who is dead/' 
I repeated, calmly. 

“ Has that man any relations living? ” 

“ I don’t know." 

“What evidence can you bring to corroborate 
your statement that it was given to you ? " 

“None. But stay — I have one friend whom I 
told of the occurrence, although I do not wish him 
to be brought into this matter." 

“You refuse to name him, or call him on your 
behalf? " said the chief officer, raising his eyebrows. 

“I do." 

“Are you aware of the significance of this 
symbol ? " 

“Perfectly — in a general sense." 


250 


GUILTY BONDS, 


“Then perhaps it will be no surprise to you to 
know that a lady named Inglewood was discovered 
murdered at her house in Bedford Place some time 
ago, with an identical seal pinned upon her breast, 
and further, that a woman was found in Angel Court 
a short time back. Her throat was cut, and she lay 
within a few yards of where you were arrested. 
Upon her body was found a portion of paper to 
which part of a seal adhered, and this paper, which 
is in our possession, exactly fits the piece that has 
been torn from the one found in your pocket-book.’^ 
“It does ! ” I cried, amazed, for in a moment I 
recognized the serious suspicion now resting upon 
•me. 

“ Now ; what have you to say .? ” 

“ I have nothing to add,” I said dreamily. 

“And you still refuse your address ? ” 

“Yes.” 

‘ ‘Very well, then ; we must find out for ourselves. ” 
After a few words to the detectives in an under- 
tone, he turned and said, — 

“ Inspector, you will charge him on suspicion of 
the wilful murder of the woman — and, by the way, 
let one of the men sit with him to-night. Pm going 
down to the Yard.” 

“Very well, sir,” replied the officer, and they all 
left the room, with the exception of the statuesque 
constable. 


GUILTY BONDS, 


231 


CHAPTER XXVII. 

A GUILTLESS CRIME. 

Down one dimly-lit, dreary corridor, along an 
other, and up a flight of spiral stairs, I walked list- 
lessly, with two warders at my side. 

A low door opened, a breath of warm air, a hum 
of voices, and I was standing in the prisone'C’ dock 
at the Central Criminal Court, Old Bailey. 

As I entered and faced the grave-looking judge, 
and the aldermen in their fur-trimmed scarlet robes 
seated beside him, I heard the stentorian voice of 
the usher cry ‘^Silence,” and immediately the clerk 
rose, and with a paper in his hand, said in clear 
monotonous tones : 

“Prisoner at the bar, you are indicted for that you 
did on the night of August the fifteenth, eighteen 
hundred and eighty-seven, wilfully murder Ethel 
Inglewood, one of Her Majesty’s subjects, at Number 
67, Bedford Place, Bloomsbury, by stabbing her with 
a knife. Are you guilty, or not guilty ? 

Mr. Roland, Q. C., who, with Mr. Crane, had 
been retained for my defence, rose promptly and 
replied, “ Prisoner pleads not guilty, m’lord.” 


232 


GUILTY BONDS. 


There was a dead silence. 

All that could be heard was the rustling of the 
briefs of the great array of counsel before me, and 
the busy hum and din of the city that came through 
the open window, while a stray streak of dusky sun- 
light, glinting across the sombre Court, fell like a 
bar of golden dust between myself and the judge. 
The twelve benevolent-looking yet impassive jury- 
men sat motionless on my left, and on my right the 
crowd of eager spectators craned their necks in their 
curiosity to obtain a glimpse of one who was alleged 
to be the author of the mysterious crime. 

Mine was a celebrated case. 

Three weeks had nearly elapsed since my arrest, 
and Scotland Yard, so far from being idle, had suc- 
ceeded in working up evidence and charging me 
with a horrible murder, for which I had been com- 
mitted to take my trial by the magistrate at Bow 
Street. 

Of Vera I had seen nothing. Both Bob and De- 
metrius had visited me whilst under remand and 
endeavored to cheer me, although both admitted 
they had been served with subpoenas by the prose- 
cution, but of the nature of the evidence they wished 
them to give they were ignorant. 

Rumors had reached me, even in my prison cell, 
of the intense excitement that had been caused by 
the news of my capture, and the plain facts had, I 


GUILTY BONDS. 


233 

heard, become so distorted in their progress from 
mouth to mouth that not only was it anticipated 
that my identity as the murderer was completely 
established, but speculation had already planned for 
me another atrocity in connection with the spot 
where I had been found. 

The one topic of conversation was my arrest, and 
in private circles, as well as in places of general 
meeting, little else was discussed. The public pulse, 
in fact, was fevered. 

With the opening of the trial the crisis had 
arrived. 

I had been told that the counsel appearing to 
conduct my prosecution were Mr. Norman Ayrton, 
Q. C, and Mr. Paget, and as I glanced at these 
gentlemen seated in close consultation I instinctively 
dreaded the cold, merciless face of the former, and 
the supercilious nonchalance of the latter. 

As perfect quietude was restored in the stifling 
Court with its long tiers of white expectant faces, 
Mr. Ayrton gave his gown a twitch, and with a 
preliminary cough, rose. 

The warder handed me a chair, and, seating my- 
self, I concentrated my attention upon the clear, 
concise utterances of the man who was doing his 
utmost to fix the awful stigma upon me. 

Turning to the judge, he said : "‘May it please 
your lordship, I appear on behalf of the Crown to 


234 


GUILTY BONDS. 


prosecute the prisoner at the bar. The case which 
your lordship and gentlemen of the jury have before 
you to-day is one of an abnormal and extraordinary 
nature. It will be within the recollection of the 
Court that during the last three years a series of 
mysterious and diabolical murders have been com- 
mitted, absolutely, as far as at present known, 
without motive. What may have been the motive 
of these, however, is not the point to which I desire 
to call your attention, but to one utterly unaccount- 
able crime, as it then appeared, which took place on 
the night of August the fifteenth, two years ago. 
On that occasion a lady named Mrs. Ethel Ingle- 
wood, residing at 67, Bedford Place, Bloomsbury, 
was discovered murdered, and the connecting link 
between that tragic occurrence and six of a similar 
character which had preceded it was the circum- 
stance that a seal of peculiar design, fixed to a blank 
paper, was found pinned upon the breast of that 
lady. Of the seal, and the mysteries surrounding it, 
I shall be in a position to give your lordship and 
the gentlemen of the jury some further information 
at a later stage in these proceedings. 

“It is sufficient for my purpose at the present 
moment simply to indicate the fact that the seal, 
connected in such a peculiar manner with the 
previous outrages, was also a conspicuous object in 
this, and undoubtedly proved that the crime, if not 


GUILTY BONDS. 


235 

the work of the same hand, emanated at any rate 
from the same source. The prisoner at the bar was 
the principal witness in the discovery of the murder 
of Mrs. Inglewood, and gave evidence before the 
Coroner, when a verdict of wilful murder against 
some person unknown was returned. He professed, 
in the assistance which he then gave, to havs been 
animated simply and solely by the desire to bring 
the offender to justice. Considerable doubt was 
entertained by the police with regard to the veracity 
of that statement, and I believe, my lord, it will be 
in my power to prove, by most conclusive evidence, 
that the prisoner then committed the crime of per- 
jury in addition to the greater and more hideous one 
for which he stands here indicted.’’ 

Counsel then paused and examined the first folio 
of his brief. 

To my disordered imagination it seemed as if I 
already stood convicted. 

Again the eminent Queen’s Counsel gave a pre- 
liminary cough, and resumed : — 

“If I shall be in a position to establish beyond 
any shadow of doubt that the prisoner really com- 
mitted the murder in Bloomsbury, the evidence 
which can be adduced against him in regard to a 
second count, which, however, is not on the present 
indictment, is even still more indubitable. On the 
night of March the fourth last, the body of a woman, 


GUILTY BONDS. 


236 

which has never yet been identified, was discovered 
lying in a blind alley, called Angel Court, leading 
from Drury Lane. She was quite dead when dis- 
covered, having been stabbed in the throat, and on 
her breast, as in the previous tragedy, was a piece 
of paper from which the larger portion had evidently 
been roughly torn. The small piece adhering was 
pinned in exactly the same fashion as upon the 
deceased Mrs. Inglewood, and no one could doubt 
that the murder which had been committed formed 
one of that series of horrifying outrages of which it 
formed the eighth. 

"‘From that day till the present no clue whatever 
has been obtained as to the identity of the poor 
woman who was then discovered, but events have 
so conspired, and the police have been so vigilant, 
that a strange finale has been brought about. There 
is an old truism, gentlemen, that ‘ Murder will out,’ 
and though that expression is worn almost thread- 
bare by constant repetition, its forco is recognized, 
and its truth is applicable as much now as ever. 
‘Murder,’ in this case ‘did out,’ by a most fortui- 
tous circumstance which I will briefly narrate, 
although the story has been freely circulated in the 
public Press.” 

In a few terse sentences counsel explained my 
arrest, and the discovery of the seal in my wallet. 

“Such, my lord,” he continued, “were the means 


GUILTY BONDS. 


237 

by which the prisoner at the bar came into the hands 
of the police, and I would impress very strongly 
upon the jury, at this stage, the consideration that 
when charged at the police-station prisoner not only 
gave a fictitious name, but refused his address, be- 
sides giving as his excuse for his presence in the 
house on the night in question, a silly story which 
I venture to believe, you, gentlemen of the jury, 
will at once see to be outside the bounds of cred- 
ibility. In the extraordinary explanations which 
the prisoner has given of his actions during the past 
year — strange and improbable — none so utterly 
feeble as these have been advanced. He asserts 
that his motive in going to the house in Angel Court, 
at that hour of the evening, was the altogether mon- 
strous one of filching from a corpse evidence in con- 
nection — in close connection, I may say, gentlemen 
— with this very crime which we are now investi- 
gating.” 

A murmur of surprise ran through the densely- 
packed Court. This was the first time my explana- 
tion had been made public. 

‘‘Incredible as it may seem,” said counsel, im- 
mediately resuming, “for the last twelve months 
he says he has been actively pursuing inquiries in 
regard to these crimes, and that his own life having, 
in some way which he will not at present disclose, 
been endangered, it has given him peculiar reason 


238 G UIL TY BONDS. 

SO to do. This story, of course, the jury will regard 
in any light they choose, but I rather think that 
when the evidence which I shall presently call is 
given, absolutely no credence will be placed upon 
it. My remarks will be brief at the present moment, 
but my learned friends who have been instructed 
for the defence, will, no doubt, seek to attach great 
importance to the personal character of the prisoner. 
Nevertheless I would ask what that character is ? 
Two years ago this man, who used formerly, it is 
true, to occupy a position of some importance in 
journalism, became possessed of a fortune, and 
whether it be that the possession of so much wealth 
suddenly turned him into a monomaniac, or whether, 
previously to that time, his actions, of which we 
have, at present, no record, were characterized by 
this mad thirst for blood, I cannot inform you. 
Whatever things may have appeared to the outside 
world, there is no doubt in my mind that the prisoner 
has been cherishing a most intense and unnatural 
hatred against mankind, and that with the acces- 
sion of wealth his means for executing his fell pro- 
jects were correspondingly enhanced. 

“It is true he bears the character of an English 
gentleman, but men of the world, such as I see 
before me in the jury box, are not to be deceived by 
mere detail of dress or conversation. The actions 
of men are the means by which they must be judged. 


GUILTY BONDS. 


239 


and, looking upon the past life of this man by the 
lurid glare which the statements of the witnesses — 
and which his own actions themselves afford — it 
will be matter for surprise that his career has been 
allowed to go on so long unchecked. When he 
talks of his character, gentlemen, let me ask one 
question. In what was he engaged for nearly six 
months out of the last twelve } Perhaps my learned 
friend will answer this in his defence. The prisoner 
refuses, gentlemen, to give one word of explana- 
tion.” 

Again there was a rustle in court, and the usher 
interposed with his stern command of “ Silence ! ” 

^‘Now, gentlemen, with these few brief observa- 
tions, which I shall supplement later on, I will pro- 
ceed to call my witnesses — persons whose veracity 
is unimpeachable — who will give you such an in- 
sight into his past life that will leave not the faintest 
suspicion of doubt in your minds that the prisoner 
at the bar has been the perpetrator of one, at least, 
of that string of almost unparalleled crimes which 
have shocked the w^hole of the civilized world.” 

As the leading counsel, with a significant smile 
at the jury, resumed his seat, and his junior rose to 
call the witnesses, I folded my arms and waited. 


240 


GUILTY BONDS. 


CHAPTER XXVIII. 

THE CLIQUE. 

The two men first called did not interest me. 
They were the constables to whose evidence I had 
listened at the police court. 

“ Detective-Inspector Cronin,” exclaimed Mr. 
Paget, when they had finished, and a tall, well- 
preserved, black-bearded man entered the witness 
box and was sworn. 

^‘I am John Cronin, detective inspector. Criminal 
Investigation Department,” said he, in answer to 
counsel. “The pocket-book which I produce was 
handed me on prisoner's arrest, and upon examin- 
ing it, I found it contained, amongst other things, 
a bill of the Charing Cross Hotel. I proceeded there, 
made inquiries, and ascertained that prisoner had 
been staying there one day, giving his name as 
Frank Burgoyne. I examined the room he occupied, 
and found a despatch box in which was the photo- 
graph I now produce. Comparing it with that of 
the woman murdered in Angel Court, taken after 
death, I find the features exactly coincide. ” 


at/lLTY ^OMbS. 


^4t 

**Was there any distinguishing mark?” asked 
his lordship. 

“Yes, m’lord,” replied the detective handing up 
both photographs. “Your lordship will notice a 
small scar over the left eye.” 

“You made other inquiries, I believe?” asked 
Mr. Paget. 

“ Yes ; on the following day I went to prisoner’s 
house, Elveham Dene, Northamptonshire, and 
searched the premises. On examining the drawers 
of a writing-table in the library, which were un- 
locked, I found two blank pieces of paper on which 
were seals corresponding in every particular to that 
found on the lady murdered in Bedford Place.” 

What did all this mean ? I knew nothing of these 
seals. Surely it must be some plot to take away 
my life ! 

The frightful suspicion — could Vera be concerned 
in it — entered my soul. 

The doubt was too awful to be entertained ; yet 
she had not communicated with me since my ar- 
rest. 

“In the same drawer,” continued the detective 
fumbling among some papers he held in his hand, 
“ I found this telegram. It is dated on the day of 
the murder in Bloomsbury, and addressed to the de- 
ceased. It reads: — ‘Handed in at Hull and re- 
ceived at the West Central district office. Shall be 
i6 


242 GUILTY BONDS. 

with you about midnight. Be at home. ’ It is signed 
with a single letter ‘B.’ On examining the note- 
paper on the writing-table, I found it was the same 
as that upon which the seals were impressed.” 

“You produce some of that notepaper, I think ? ” 
said Mr. Paget. 

“I do, sir.” 

The paper was handed to the judge, who held it 
to the light and compared the watermarks. 

When he had satisfied himself the detective re- 
sumed : 

“Throughout my examination I was in every 
way retarded by the action of the prisoner's wife. 
On proceeding to search one of the bedrooms she 
positively refused to give me the keys of a chest of 
drawers, and I was therefore compelled to force 
them. Concealed under some papers, which lined 
one of the drawers, I discovered a small gold pad- 
lock, upon which are engraved the initials R. S.,' 
and to which was attached the small portion of gold 
chain I now produce. I had charge of the inquiries 
in the case of Mrs. Inglewood, and remember at the 
time of her decease she was wearing a diamond 
bracelet which is also produced. When I examined 
the house at Bedford Place I discovered the case of 
the bracelet, which bore the name of the jeweller. 
The manager of the firm in question will bo called 
to prove that the padlock found in the bed ;)om of 


GUILTY BONDS. 


243 


the prisoner is the one belonging to Mrs. Ingle- 
wood’s bracelet, and that it had been sold to her a 
week before her death.” 

Some of the dead woman’s jewelry in my room ! 
Incredible ! 

Was it possible that Vera but, no — again 

banish the thought ! 

“In the same drawer,” added the detective, with a 
self-satisfied smile at the intense surprise which his 
statements excited, “ was this letter, in a lady’s 
handwriting, signed ‘ Ethel Inglewood ’ : ‘ Come 
and dine to-morrow evening. I have the money 
ready, and rely on you to keep my secret.’ The 
address embossed on the paper is ‘ 67, Bedford Place,' 
and the date is that of the day previous to the mur- 
der.” 

“Do you prove anything else.?” inquired Mr. 
Paget, expectantly. 

“No,” replied the inspector, “except that from 
inquiries I made I find that very shortly after the 
inquest on Mrs. Inglewood the prisoner left the 
country suddenly, and the next murder — the one in 
Angel Court — was perpetrated on the day of his 
return. ” 

As Mr. Paget resumed his seat, my counsel, Mr. 
Roland, rose. Turning to the witness with a suave 
countenance, he mildly asked : 

‘ ‘ How do you fix the day of the prisoner’s return ? ” 


244 


GUILTY BONDS. 


“ By the books of the club to which the accused 
belonged — the Junior Garrick/’ 

“You say you found the seals in the library. 
Could access be easily gained to that room ? ” 

“ No ; prisoner’s wife had the key.” 

“And she refused you the keys of the chest of 
drawers ? ” 

“Yes, giving as her reason that it contained papers 
of a strictly private nature.” 

“Did she express surprise when you found the 
seals } ” 

“When I showed them to her she fainted.” 

“You said, just now, that the little padlock was 
‘ concealed. ’ Are you sure it had not accidentally 
fallen behind the paper ? ” 

“No ; I should think not.” 

“Did you suspect the prisoner previous to his 
arrest } ” 

“I did. After the inquest on Mrs. Inglewood, 
observation was kept upon him for some time, but 
he eluded us by going abroad.” 

“And now you endeavor to fix the crime upon 
him without any direct evidence. I have nothing 
more to ask you.” 

My hopes sank as Mr. Roland resumed his seat, 
with a poor affectation of indifference. 

The next witness was a neatly- attired, gentle- 
manly-looking man, the jeweller’s manager, who 


GUILTY BONDS. 


245 


proved the purchase of the bracelet by Mrs. Ingle- 
wood, and identified the tiny padlock as a portion 
of it. 

When he had retired, Mr. Roland having asked him 
no questions, he was succeeded by Bob Nugent, 
who stepped into the witness-box averting my gaze. 

Was even Bob in the conspiracy ! 

“You were, I think, Mr. Nugent,” said the prose- 
cuting counsel, “a friend — a particular friend I may 
say — of the prisoner’s } ” 

“I was — formerly.” 

“Now, tell me, do you remember the night of the 
1 5th August } ” 

“I do. The prisoner and I left the Junior Garrick 
Club soon after midnight, to proceed home.” 

“ Was there anything in his manner which at- 
tracted your attention .? ” 

“He seemed rather excited, having lost heavily 
at cards. I left him at Danes’ Inn.” 

“Do you know on what day he returned from 
abroad ? ” 

“ It was in the beginning of March. He was then 
strangely reticent as to his actions in the meantime.” 

“You will remember, as a journalist, possibly, on 
what night the murder in Angel Court occurred } ” 

“On the same night as the prisoner’s return.” 

“ Do you know anything of the photograph found 
upon the accused ? ” 


246 


GUILTY BONDS. 


“ Yes ; he produced it accidentally, while dining at 
the Junior Garrick Club, and appeared much confused 
and annoyed, endeavoring at once to conceal it.” 

“ Did you see it again ? ” 

The prisoner, in consequence of some remarks 
I made to him, showed it to me next day at his 
hotel. On that occasion he explained that it had 
been given to him by some man who is now dead.” 

“ Did that not strike you as improbable? ” 

“Well — yes, it did.” 

“ Did he enter into any further explanation? ” 

“Very little was said about the seal.” 

The court was extremely hot. Surely I was be- 
coming fainter and more faint ! There was a sing- 
ing and surging in my ears. Was I falling or stand- 
ing upright ? What were they speaking of? I had 
lost sight of the face of my friend. I could only see 
the lines of expectant up-turned countenances. 

I was really fainting ; nevertheless I struggled 
against it. Something, too, within me told me that 
I ought to struggle against it, yet everything was 
swimming and whirling around me, and vague forms 
seemed rapidly passing and re-passing before my 
vision. 

Then I staggered backward into the chair placed 
for me, and gradually the sense of sickening misery 
departed. 


GUILTY BONDS. 


247 


CHAPTER XXIX. 
monsieur’s opinion. 

The spirit was strong within me not to yield to 
any growing unconsciousnes ; not to be subdued by 
any physical or moral influences. 

I again became perfectly calm. I was seated in 
the chair. A seafaring man was in the witness-box. 
Nugent was not there. Demetrius, sitting below, 
was looking at me with an anxious and uneasy 
expression. 

“I recognize the accused,” I heard the witness 
say in reply to a question from the prosecuting 
counsel. “A recent event has brought me here to 
give evidence.” 

“Have you any doubt prisoner is the man you 
saw emerge from the doorway of Mrs. Inglewood’s 
house on the night in question ? ” 

“None. ” 

“ Did he appear agitated .? ” 

“Yes; he passed me and rushed down the street 
as fast as he could run. ” 

Did you not make any attempt to stop him ? ” 


248 


GUILTY BONDS. 


“No; at that time I was unaware of the mur- 
der.” 

“When did you again see him? ” 

“Not until a few days ago, when I recognized his 
portrait in a newspaper. ” 

A long cross-examination resulted in the witness 
firmly adhering to his story, and explaining that as 
he had been on a long voyage he knew nothing of 
the occurrence until many months afterwards. 

Demetrius, with evident unwillingness, entered 
the box. His story was brief, yet damaging. 

When he had concluded, Mr. Roland, adjusting 
his eye-glasses, rose and asked : 

“You are acquainted with prisoner’s wife, I 
believe ? ” 

“Yes; she is my cousin.” 

“Where did you go when you left England ? ” 

“I decline to answer.” 

• “You have been the prisoner’s guest at Elveham, 
have you not ? ” 

“Yes.” 

“And what were these suspicious circumstances 
of which you spoke just now ? ” 

“There were several. Late one night, about 
three weeks ago, I had occasion to enter the library. 
The door was ajar, and as I pushed it open I saw 
the accused in the act of impressing a seal, similar to 
the ones produced. I drew back unnoticed.” 


GUILTY BONDS. 


249 

It was untrue ! He had seen me sealing the en- 
velope containing a lease, and believed I was using 
the fatal emblem ! 

I waited breathlessly for the next question. 

‘Hs it a fact that on the night previous to his 
departure from Elveham, some unpleasant incident 
occurred.? 

“I know nothing of it. I have heard that the 
prisoner had some little difference with his wife.” 

“Come, sir,” demanded my counsel sharply, “did 
you not overhear a conversation in the early morn- 
ing.?” 

The witness appeared confused. 

“Yes, I did,” he admitted. “I heard my cousin 
ask him to wait a stipulated period for an explana- 
tion.” 

“ Have you any idea what this explanation is.? ” 

“None.” 

“Then, after all, you are unable to throw any 
light whatever upon these mysterious crimes .? ” he 
asked, in a strange harsh voice. 

“I’ve told you all I know,” replied Demetrius, a 
trifle paler than before. 

Mr. Roland flung down his brief upon the table, 
slowly resumed his seat, and pushed his wig from 
off his forehead with a perplexed gesture. 

I could hardly realize my situation. What could 
it all possibly mean .? What was the object of this 


250 


GUILTY BONDS. 


seaman giving evidence 'when he could throw 
no light upon the matter, except that he actually 
saw me following the murderer from Bedford 
Place ? 

He had taken a seat in the well of the Court with 
his face turned towards me. 

“Sergius Hertzen/* 

As the words rang through the place I started. I 
had not seen Vera s uncle since our marriage, as he 
went to Zurich immediately afterwards. 

There was a shuffling near the door, and the old 
man entered. As he mounted the steps to the wit- 
ness-box I noticed he had aged considerably. 

“ What are you, Mr. Hartzen ? ” Mr. Paget asked, 
referring to his brief at the same moment. 

“Police agent.” 

“And your nationality?” 

“ Russian.” 

The old man a police agent ! Dumfounded, I 
looked blankly around me. 

“You are father of the previous witness?” 

“lam.” 

“Now, what evidence can you give regarding the 
charge against the prisoner? ” 

There was a dead and painful silence. 

“We first met at the Hotel Isotta, Genoa, about 
a month after the murder in Bedford Place. We 
frequently played ^cart'e together, and on one occasion 


GUILTY BONDS. 


251 

he paid me a debt with the three five-pound notes I 
now produce.” 

“And what is there peculiar about them.? ” 

“I have since ascertained that their numbers 
correspond with those now known to have been 
stolen from the house in Bedford Place.” 

The thought flashed across my mind that once, 
when I had lost to him, I had discharged the debt 
with three notes. From whom I received them I 
could not tell. 

“What else do you know about the affair .? ” was 
the insinuating question of the prosecuting counsel. 

“Well; some three months after this I was pre- 
sent at the Central Tribunal at St. Petersburg, when 
prisoner was sentenced to the mines for complicity 
in the murder of a hotel-keeper. The sentence, 
however, was never carried out, for on the way to 
Siberia he escaped, returning to England.” 

“ It’s a lie ! I was exiled without trial, ” I shouted. 

Amid the loud cries of “ Silence,” counsel turned 
to the judge, and with a cruel smile about his lips 
remarked, “You see, my lord, prisoner admits he 
was exiled.” 

Mr. Roland made an impatient motion to me to 
preserve silence ; so seeing my protests were use- 
less, I sank again into my chair, and tried to con- 
quer my fate by bearing it. 

Mr. Crane the junior counsel defending me, cross- 


252 


GUILTY BONDS. 


examined him at some length, but resumed his seat 
without being able to shake his testimony. 

The waiter who had attended to me at the Char- 
ing Cross Hotel, and two of my own servants were 
called, but their evidence was immaterial and unin- 
teresting. 

I felt a strange morbid yielding to a superstitious 
feeling that I could not shake off, and sat as one in 
a dream, until the Court rose and I was sent back to 
my cell. 


GUILTY BONDS. 


253 


CHAPTER XXX. 

THE ELEVENTH HOUR. 

Next morning my trial was resumed. 

There was the same array of counsel ; the same 
crowd of curious onlookers lounging on the benches 
like carrion crows around a carcase ; the same 
strange, half-visionary procession of judges, lawyers 
and witnesses, who passed and repassed before me, 
sometimes ludicrous, but generally gloomy and de- 
pressing. 

Tho jury looked pale and weary. They had been 
locked up during the night, and now several of them 
were yawning. None gave indication that they felt 
the responsibility of the sentence they had to pro- 
nounce. 

I sat in the dock heedless of everything ; I had 
grown callous. I had one thought only : Why had 
not Vera made her promised explanation } 

A few minor witnesses were called, and the case 
for the prosecution closed. 

At last Mr. Roland rose to make his speech in my 
defence. The circumstantial evidence already pro- 
duced was, I knew, sufficient to cause the jury to 


GUILTY BOUdG. 


^54 

find me guilty, and I listened in rapt attention to the 
clear, concise arguments of the famous advocate. 

But how unsatisfactory was his speech — how weak 
was his defence ! With a sinking heart I saw more 
than one of the jury smile incredulously when my 
innocence was asserted. 

“I admit, gentlemen,” said Mr. Roland, in the 
course of his address, “that this case is enshrouded 
in mystery ; but while asserting that the prisoner is 
innocent, I tell you plainly there is a secret The 
key to this enigma is known to one person alone, 
and that person, for reasons with which I am myself 
unacquainted, is not in a position to divulge it 
That this secret bears directly upon the crime is ob- 
vious, nevertheless it is a most unfortunate circum- 
stance that the mystery cannot be wholly elucidated 
by a satisfactory explanation. However, I have 
several witnesses whom I purpose calling before 
you ; and having heard them, I shall ask you to 
discharge the prisoner, feeling assured you will be 
convinced that he is entirely innocent. 

“ But, Mr. Roland, this is a most extraordinary 
case,” interposed the judge. “You speak of a per- 
son who knows the secret and refuses to give evi- 
dence. If this is so, this person is party to the crime. 
To whom do you refer ? ” 

Counsel held a brief consultation with his junior, 
then rose again. 


GVILTV BONDS. 


25s 

The Court was all expectancy. 

“I refer, mlord, to no less a person than the pris- 
oner's wife ! ” 

The reply caused a sensation. Vera knew the 
secret ! I was not wrong. 

“Ah, that is unfortunate," exclaimed the judge, 
disappointedly. “ It is impossible to call her in a 
case of this description. " 

At that moment the usher handed Mr. Roland a 
note. He read it hastily, and, raising his hand, 
said : 

“The lady has just arrived in court, and is about 
to produce important evidence, m'lord. " 

The silence ^-^as unbroken, save for the frou-frou 
of Vera’s dress as she advanced towards my conns 
and bent over him, whispering. 

Mr. Roland was seated close to the dock, and I 
strained my ears to catch their hurried conversa- 
tion. 

In face of the horrible charge brought against me, 
the persistency with which it was pursued, and the 
evidence produced in support of it, I had been so 
overwhelmed by a sense of fatality that I had al- 
most decided to let things take their course. I knew 
I was innocent, nevertheless I felt the difficulty, if 
not the impossibility, of proving it. Now, however, 
encouraged by this proof of sympathy on the part of 
Vera, I took heart. 


GUILTY BOMDS. 


25 ^ 

‘‘What will these witnesses prove asked Mr. 
Roland, hurriedly. 

Vera, whose face was rendered more delicate and 
touching by the tortures she seemed undergoing, 
glanced quickly towards me, and replied : 

“They will prove my husbands innocence ! ” 

Counsel uttered an ejaculation of surprise. “Are 
you certain of this ? he asked. 

“Yes. If it were possible that I might be called 
as a witness I could tell the Court things that would 
probably astonish it ; but I leave everything to the 
two persons I have brought,” she replied in a 
tremulous voice. 

The jury grew impatient. The excitement was 
intense. 

In a few moments a young and rather showily- 
attired woman stepped into the box. As she turned 
towards me I was puzzled to know where I had 
seen the face before. The features seemed quite 
familiar, yet I could not recollect. 

“ You are Jane Maygrove? ” asked my counsel. 

“Yes.” 

“Tell us what you know of the murder of Mrs. 
Inglewood. Relate it in your own way.” 

She hesitated for a moment and commenced : 

“Before I married I was maid to Mrs. Inglewood. 
Mistress was a very quiet lady, and lived with a 
cook and myself in Bedford Place. I was in her 


GUILTY BONDS. 


257 

service about three months, and although she told 
me she was married — and she wore a wedding-ring 
— her husband never visited her. Several foreign 
ladies came to see her on different occasions, but 
only one gentleman. He also had the appearance 
of a foreigner but spoke English without an accent. 
One evening, in the latter part of July, mistress 
dined alone with this gentleman, and I overheard a 
conversation which took place in the drawing-room 
afterwards. I 

“Was this gentleman to whom you refer the pris- 
oner.?’, asked Mr. Roland. 

“No he was not. On that night I heard the vis- 
itor advising mistress to withdraw her money from 
a company which he said was on the brink of col- 
lapsing, and place it in his hands to invest. At first 
she demurred, and appeared to discredit the rumor 
that the company was not safe ; but, after a long 
argument, he exacted a promise that she would 
withdraw the money and hand it over to him in cash 
on the fifteenth of August, when it was arranged 
that he should re-invest it for her.” 

“And what happened on the latter date .? ” 

“Mistress was at home during the day. A clerk 
called in the afternoon and handed a small leather 
bag to her, for which she signed a receipt, after 
counting the money. When she had finished, I 
saw her place the bag under the sofa, at the same 

17 


GUILTY BONDS. 


258 

time leaving a small roll of bank-notes upon the 
mantelshelf. Previously I had mentioned the matter 
to my young man, and it was he who prompted me 
to act in the manner I did. Well, about seven 
o’clock the gentleman arrived, and shortly after- 
wards mistress and he went out — to the Cafe Royal, 

I believe — to dine, as Mary, our cook, had been 
dismissed that morning for dishonesty. 

“My youn^ man urged me to get possession of 
the money while they were out, saying that we 
could then marry, go abroad, and set up in business 
with it. But my heart failed me, and I could not 
bring myself to commit the robbery. About ten 
o’clock a telegram came, and half an hour later 
mistress and the gentleman returned. When mis- 
tress read the telegram she appeared nervous and 
agitated. They both entered the dining-room, 
and at first conversed in low tones, but soon 
appeared to be in altercation. I heard the gentle- 
man say, ‘ I shall not leave this house until you let 
me have the money. I tell you I will not allow you 
to ruin yourself.’ To which mistress replied that 
she had changed her mind, and should place the 
money in the bank instead. At this the foreigner 
grew furious. Mistress urged him to go, but he 
would not. Then all was quiet again. She gave 
me orders to lay supper in the sitting-room upstairs, 
which I obeyed, she telling me that her husband 


GUILTY BONDS. 


259 


was coming home after a long journey. I wondered 
what the master would say to the other gentleman, 
but discreetly held my tongue. It wasn’t my place 
to say a word. About eleven o’clock the gentleman 
departed very reluctantly, and soon after midnight 
mistress’s husband arrived. 

“ I opened the door to him. He was a tall, hand- 
some man, who wore a felt hat and long travelling 
ulster. He greeted mistress very cordially, kissing 
her with much affection, and then they went upstairs 
together to supper. 

^‘All the evening I had been hesitating whether 
or not I should decamp with the money, and while 
they were sitting at table I was still thinking over 
the matter. The clock struck two, and roused 
me. Suddenly I made up my mind to take it, so 
creeping back to the drawing-room I opened the 
bag, abstracted the contents, and replaced it again. 
Just as I was about to leave the room with the 
money in my hands I heard a footstep on the stairs. 
I knew it was mistress ! I slipped behind the 
screen, hoping to escape observation. Scarcely had 
she crossed the threshold when I heard another 
person following stealthily. It was the foreign 
gentleman. ‘ Have you decided } ’ he asked, in a 
low whisper. ‘Yes,’ she replied, starting at his 
sudden re-appearance ; ‘ once for all, I tell you I 
will rid myself of you.’ He appeared mad with 


26 o 


GUILTY BONDS. 


anger. He pushed the door to, and placed his back 
against it. Then he laughed a low, harsh laugh, 
replying, ‘That’s not so easy, my pretty one: 
remember our secret bond.’ She turned upon him 
furiously, crying, ‘ Leave this house at once ! Do 
you wish to compromise me besides endeavoring to 
rob me of my money Ah ! you think I do not 
know you. We have been friends because it suited 
my purpose ; but if you dare touch that money 
I will tell what I know ! I will give the police the 
information they seek regarding the Villeneuve 
affair ! ’ This speech had a strange effect upon him. 

^ Dieu ! — she knows,’ he ejaculated, involuntarily. 
Glaring at her with an expression of murderous 
hatred, he watched her every movement. ‘Will 
you hand me over the money ? ’ he demanded, 
sternly. ‘No ; you shall never have it. Leave this 
house ; and if you remain in England another week 
I’ll carry my threat into effect. If you fancy you can 
practise the confidence trick on me you are mistaken 
—so, go!’ 

“ ‘ I shall not 1 ’ he replied, fiercely. ‘ I will have 
that money,’ and he bent down in the act of drawing 
the bag from beneath the sofa. ‘ Touch it at your 
peril ! ’ she cried, hoarsely. ‘ I see you now in your 
true light ; you would rob a woman of her means of 
existence. God knows you have brought me enough 
misery already 1 ’ Again he tried to obtain posses- 


GUILTY BONDS. 


261 


sion of the bag, but once more she frustrated his 
design. Then they struggled for the mastery. His 
face was ashen pale, and his fingers gripped her 
bare arms, leaving great red marks ; but she was 
not to be easily vanquished, and fought like a 
tigress. ' To-morrow,’ she said, in a terrible half- 
whisper, ‘ the world shall know who stole the Ville- 
neuve diamonds, and I will rid myself of you for- 
ever. I will expose your accursed villainy ! ’ He 
grasped her by the wrist and dragged her towards 
him. ‘You — you say this — to me,’ he hissed, in 
a frenzy of passion. ‘You have spoken your 
last words — you — you shall die.’ I saw a knife 
uplifted in his hand, and he plunged it in my mis- 
tress’s breast with a dull, sickening sound. She 
sank upon the floor, uttering a shrill cry. For a 
few seconds he bent over her and seemed to be 
rearranging her dress, then he snatched up the bag, 
took the roll of notes from the mantelshelf, and 
thrusting them into his pocket, stole noiselessly out 
by the back-door. I stood for a few seconds, not 
knowing what to do. At last I summoned courage 
to approach my poor mistress, who kiy motionless ; 
but just as I was stepping from my hiding-place I 
heard some one descending the stairs. It was 
master ! He rushed into the room, but stopped 
suddenly, in horror, as he caught sight of his wife. 
Bending over her, he was about to lift her, when his 


GUILTY BONDS. 


2 62 

eyes caught sight of something, which I suppose 
was the seal afterwards found. With a loud cry of 
despair, and uttering words in a foreign language, 
he kissed her calm white face. ‘I must fly,’ he 
said, aloud, 'or I shall be suspected,’ and without 
another word he also hurried out of the house. 

“When he had gone, I placed the money I had 
stolen in a small hand-bag, and crept out by the 
front door. A few days later my young man and 
myself sailed for Australia, and that is all I know of 
the murder.” 

There was a long pause when the voluble witness 
had concluded her breathless recital 


GUILTY BONDS. 


263 


CHAPTER XXXL 

BY WHOSE HAND ? 

‘'This is a most remarkable statement/’ observed 
the judge, regarding the woman keenly. “You 
swear positively that the prisoner was not the 
murderer ? ” 

“Yes, my lord.” 

“Then surely you would be able to recognize 
the man whom you assert stabbed your mistress? 
Have you seen him since ? ” 

“ Never. ” 

“Don’t tell me his name, but answer me; do you 
know it ? ” 

“ No ; my mistress always called him Victor, and 
told me, whenever he came, to announce him as 
Monsieur. He, too, always addressed her by her 
Christian name.” * 

“Why did you not give information to the police 
at the time ? ” asked his lordship. 

“ Because I should have been prosecuted for 
robbery,” she replied, confusedly. 

“I have only one question, m’lord,” exclaimed 


264 


GUILTY BONDS. 


counsel for the prosecution, rising. Turning to the 
witness, he asked: “When was the first occasion 
upon which you saw the prisoner ? 

“ Half-an-hour ago.” 

“And you positively swear you never saw him 
before to-day } ” 

“I do.” 

“Witness,” said the judge, “you will give the 
police a detailed description of the man you saw 
commit the murder. That will do.” 

Mr. Roland and Vera were in earnest conversa- 
tion. He appeared to be dubious about some 
point upon which she was trying to convince 
him. 

The spectators were eager for the next develop- 
ment of the curious case. They had followed the 
verbal duel with the same interest as that inspired 
by a thrilling drama performed by first-class artistes. 
Several times already applause had almost broken 
out, and was only suppressed by the dread of the 
Court being cleared. 

“The next witness, m’lord, will be Boris Seroff,” 
Mr. Roland said, glancing hesitatingly at his brief, 
while Vera retired to a seat where I could not 
observe her. 

“ Seroff ! ” I repeated to myself, “ who can he be ? 
Surely he must be a relation of Vera’s ; and yet I’ve 
never heard of him ! ” 


GUILTY BONDS. 265 

The name was shouted down the corridor outside 
the Court ; then there was a movement among the 
eager crowd which stood about the door, and a 
man advanced towards the witness-box. 

Instantly I recognized him. It was the murderer ! 

What fresh intrigue was this } 

I leapt from my chair, and leaning over the dock, 
cried : 

My lord, that man who is going to give evidence, 
is ” 

“ Enough ! ” interposed the judge. If you can- 
not be silent, you will be removed to the cells 
during the remainder of your trial.” 

The warder at my side grasped me roughly by 
the arm, and forcing me into my chair, whispered, 
“ Don’t be a fool ! Such excitement can do you no 
good. ” 

I saw how utterly helpless I was, yet I was deter- 
mined to denounce this man by some means. The 
midnight scene in the Dene came back to me in all 
its hideous reality. Vera’s lips defiled by those of a 
murderer ! 

The thought goaded me to desperation. Spring- 
ing to my feet again I was on the point of proclaim- 
ing his guilt, when the first question was put by my 
counsel. 

“Now, Mr. Seroff, what are you.?” 

With bated breath I awaited his answer. 


266 


GUILTY BONDS. 


“lam brother-in-law of accused. His wife is my 
sister.” 

His sister ! Then at least I had no cause for 
jealousy, and had judged Vera wrongly. 

“Tell us, please, what you know of the circum- 
stances attending the murder of Mrs. Inglewood.” 

The witness twirled his mustache nervously, and 
glanced at me ; then, as he saw my eyes fixed 
upon him, he scowled and turned away. 

Yes. I felt convinced it was he. I could see 
guilt written upon his face. 

“The story is a rather long one, and there are 
some matters which I cannot explain ; however, I 
will tell you what occurred on the night in question. 
The murdered woman, who, for certain reasons, 
assumed the name of Mrs. Inglewood, was my wife. 
She was called Rina Beranger before I married her, 
a schoolfellow of my sister’s, at Warsaw. After our 
marriage it was imperative she should live in Eng- 
land, and for that reason she left me. I resumed 
my position, that of an officer of Cossacks, and for 
a year we were parted. At last I obtained leave and 
travelled from St. Petersburg to London. *I landed 
at Hull on the afternoon of the fifteenth of August, 
and at once telegraphed to my wife announcing 
that I should arrive about midnight.” 

“ Did you sign that telegram ? ” asked Mr. Roland. 

“With my initial only.” 


GUILTY BONDS. 


267 

“Is that the message ?” counsel asked, handing 
up the telegram which had been put in as evidence 
against me. 

“ Yes ; it is.” 

“I would point out, your lordship,” observed Mr. 
Roland, “that the letter B. stands for Boris, as well 
as Burgoyne, the prisoner.” 

Continuing, the witness said: “I arrived home 
soon after twelve at night, and was admitted by the 
woman I see sitting in the well of the Court. Sup- 
per was laid in an upstairs room, and my wife, who 
I thought appeared unusually nervous, called for it 
to be served at once. I do not remember how long 
we sat together talking; it might have been a couple 
of hours for aught I know. M}?- wife was telling me 
certain things, which it is unnecessary to repeat 
here, they being purely business matters, when sud- 
denly she recollected that she had a letter to give 
me. It was downstairs in the drawing-room, she 
said, and begging me to remain where I was she 
left the room, closing the door.” 

“Was this only a ruse on her part ? ” asked the judge. 

“I’m afraid so. She — she did not return,” he 
continued, with a sign of emotion. “After she had 
been absent five or six minutes I heard a shrill 
scream, and then a sound like the smashing of glass. 
At first I believed that the servant had fallen with a 
tray, and fully expected my wife to return and relate 


268 


GUILTY BONDS. 


the occurrence ; but as she did not come I opened 
the door and listened. All was silent. The terrible 
quiet unmanned me. I called to her, but there was 
no response, then, suspecting that some accident 
had happened, I dashed downstairs and entered the 
room ” 

“And what did you find.?” counsel inquired. 

The witness appeared overcome with agitation, 
which he strove to repress. But was it only feigned ? 

“There — I saw my wife — lying on the floor — 
murdered ! ” 

“ How did you act immediately after discovering 
the crime .? ” 

“I — I fled from the house,” he stammered. 

“Did you not first ascertain whether the unfor- 
tunate woman was really dead.? Did you not call 
the servant ? ” 

“No. Overcome by sudden fear I left the place, 
lest I should be suspected of committing the murder. ” 

This statement had a great effect upon the spec- 
tators, and it was some moments before quiet was 
sufficiently restored for the interrogatory to proceed. 

“ Did you give information to the police.? ” 

“No. I left for Paris at ten the same morning.” 

“Can you say positively that it was not the 
prisoner who committed the murder?” 

“Yes; I am certain it was not,” he replied, 
drawing a long breath. 


GUILTY BONDS. 269 

I was still convinced he was the murderer. He 
might, I thought, be endeavoring to shield himself 
by giving evidence against some imaginary person. 

“ Have you any idea who committed the deed ? 

“ I have — I believe ” 

^"Stop ! Whatever information you can give in a 
serious charge like this must be given to the police,’" 
exclaimed the judge, interrupting. 

“Shall I give the police the name of the person 
I suspect ” asked the Russian. 

“ Yes ; at the conclusion of your examination.” 

Counsel for the prosecution rose and took a 
deliberate view of the witness, saying : “ Tell me, 
Mr. Seroff, what prompted you to act in the extraor- 
dinary manner you did on discovering the crime } ” 

“ I had no desire to be suspected.” 

“ Would it not have been more natural to have 
given information at once, instead of hiding your- 
self.? ” 

“ Possibly it would. 

“ Then what caused you to keep the matter a 
secret, and not come forward until now ? ” demanded 
the lawyer, with a shrewd look. 

“ I had my reasons.” 

“ It is those reasons I desire to know.” 

“ I refuse to state them.” 

“ Then your evidence is very incomplete, and I 
do not think the jury will accept it.” 


270 


GUILTY BONDS. 


Not if I place the police on the track of the 
assassin ? ” 

You forget that by your refusal to state the 
whole of the facts, and keeping the matter secret as 
you have, that you are an accessory, in a certain 
degree, to your wife’s murder.” 

“ I’m fully aware of it ; nevertheless I refuse to 
give you the reason why I believed I should be 
suspected of the crime.” 

“ Very well, ” said counsel, in a tone of annoyance, 
resuming his seat. “ I hope the jury will accept 
your evidence with the utmost caution. ” 

Have you any more witnesses, Mr. Roland?” 
the judge asked. 

“No, m’lord. This concludes the case ibr the 
defence. ” 

Boris Seroff descended from the witness-bex, and 
left the Court in company with an inspector of police 
and a detective. 

A few seconds later they returned, held a hurried 
conversation with the clerk of the Court, who in 
turn whispered something to the judge, which ap- 
peared greatly to surprise him. Then the two 
officers went out again. 

Had my newly-discovered brother-in-law divulged 
the name of the murderer ? 

Those were moments of terrible excitement. 


GUILTY BONDS. 


271 


CHAPTER XXXII. 

RAYS OF HOPE. 

My trial was concluding. 

With logical clearness Mr. Roland addressed the 
jury for my defence, saying that in the face of the 
evidence which had been produced, and which all 
tended to show that the murder was committed 
by another person, he felt assured they would not 
find me guilty. He commented at some length 
upon the lack of corroborative evidence on the part 
of the prosecution, criticising the weak points in that 
masterly manner which had brought him so much 
renown. 

‘ ‘ I again admit, gentlemen, ’’ he continued, * ‘ mine 
is not a wholly satisfactory defence, for the prisoner 
appears to have acted somewhat suspiciously, and 
he refuses to explain certain matters connected 
with the occurrence ; yet this trial is satisfactory, 
inasmuch as it has caused the real culprit to be de- 
nounced, and although I am as ignorant as your- 
selves as to the identity of the murderer, I under- 
stand the police are already engaged in tracking him. 


272 


GUILTY BONDS. 


^ ‘ As I told you in my opening speech, there are 
certain facts connected with this case which are 
bound to be kept secret, even though a man's life 
or liberty are at stake, and when I tell you that I — 
like yourselves — am unaware of the bearing which 
these family affairs have upon the crime we are 
investigating, you will fully appreciate the difficulty 
in which I am placed. Had it not been for the pro- 
duction of the two witnesses by the prisoner’s wife 
at the eleventh hour, I should have been compelled 
to give way against the weight of circumstantial 
evidence brought by the prosecution. However, I 
feel assured that no right-minded man can assume 
that the prisoner at the bar had any hand in the 
assassination of the defenceless woman in Bedford 
Place, after the statement of the maid who actually 
saw the crime committed, and who positively swears 
that the accused was not present. I would there- 
fore ask you to at once return a verdict of ‘ Not 
Guilty,' and thus bring about the prisoner’s dis- 
charge. " 

Then the judge summed up. 

He reviewed the case with much deliberation and 
care, saying that, in dealing with a crime committed 
without any witnesses being present, inference must 
take the place of direct evidence ; but in the case 
before them they had discovered that a witness was 
present, and that witness positively swore that I was 


GUILTY BONDS, 


not the murderer. Therefore, despite the obvious 
gaps in the argument for the defence, it was an open 
question whether or not I should be discharged. 

The spectators looked on with breathless anxiety, 
understanding that the woman’s evidence had served 
as a lever to demolish the whole theory of the pros- 
ecution. 

But no. The jury were not unanimous. They 
asked leave to retire. Once only I saw Vera during 
the quarter of an hour they were absent. I could 
see she was terribly agitated as she leant over to 
consult Mr. Roland. “You need have no fear,” I 
heard him say. “ He will be acquitted.” 

All eyes were turned upon me during those awful 
moments. 

Suddenly there was a movement, and the jury 
slowly filed into Court, 

A deathlike stillness ensued as the clerk rose and 
asked the foreman, — 

“ Have you agreed upon your verdict ?” 

“ We have.” 

“ Do you find the prisoner, Frank Burgoyne, 
guilty of having murdered Ethel Inglewood, or not 
guilty } ” 

“ Not guilty ! ” 

An outburst of applause greeted this announce- 
ment ; then the judge ordered my discharge, and I 
walked from the dock a free man. 


CUILTY BONDS, 


^1A- 

Vera met me, and flinging her arms about my 
neck, kissed me. My face was wet with her tears 
of joy. Not a single word was exchanged be- 
tween us. 

We left the Court together, and entering a cab, 
drove to the Grand Hotel, where she was staying. 


GUILTY BONDS. 


275 


CHAPTER XXXIII. 
vera's secret. 

A FEW hours had elapsed since my acquittal, and 
after a brush up and a hasty meal I had entered 
Vera’s sitting-room. 

It was already dark. The tiny electric lamps 
flooded with amber light the small apartment ren- 
dered cosy by the drawn curtains. On a lounge 
chair she sat, wrapped in a pale gray cashmere 
gown, with a bunch of crimson roses in her breast. 
At sight of me she rose. Not a muscle of her coun- 
tenance stirred, I and could divine her embarrass- 
ment by the sharp glance she momentarily darted 
at me. 

I scented in this proceeding some annoying mys- 
tery. 

A constrained silence reigned for some mo- 
ments. 

“Frank,” exclaimed she, in a very calm tone, 
advancing slowly and taking my hand, “ at last we 
are alone.” 

“Yes, Vera,” I replied, calling to my aid all my 


^76 GUIL TV BOATDS. 

coolness to feign a serenity which I was far from 
possessing. “Now, perhaps, you will let me know 
this secret of yours which has so long estranged us, 
and brought us all this sorrow.” 

She stood motionless, with compressed lips, and 
shivering slightly, said, — 

“Forgive me! Frank, forgive me! I will tell 
you everything. You shall know the truth ; believe 
me. 

“Why did you not tell me the truth long ago; 
then this degrading trial would have been avoided,” 
I said, bitterly. 

“Because I could not, until this afternoon.” 

“Not when my life was at stake ? ” 

She shook her head seriously, replying, “No, it 
was impossible.” 

Was I still being duped ? Those were the only 
words that beat a constant and painful tattoo in my 
brain. 

“Tell me,” I said, laying my hand upon her 
shoulder, “tell me the reason why you have kept 
this secret of yours till now ? ” 

“ Hark ! ” she said, listening intently. 

I could hear nothing beyond the roar of the traffic 
in Trafalgar Square. 

She crossed quickly to the window, and flinging 
aside the curtains, opened it. 

“Come here,” she commanded. 


GUILTY BONDS. 


277 


I obeyed her. 

‘‘See ! below. There is a man selling news- 
papers. Listen to what he says ! ” 

I leant out of the window, and as I did so a 
hoarse cry broke upon my ear. It caused me to 
start, for the words the man shouted were, “Extra 
special ! Attempt to murder the Czar ! Exciting 
Scenes ! Extra special ! ” 

“ What has that to do with it ? ” I asked, puzzled, 
as she closed the window and drew the curtains 
again. 

“ Everything,” she replied, sighing. “Sit down, 
and I will tell you the story. 

I flung myself into an easy-chair, and she came 
and stood beside me. Her hand smoothed my 
forehead with a tender caress, yet somehow I could 
not trust her ; the ironic and brutal strokes of Fate 
had paralyzed me, and I felt myself wholly stupe- 
fied. 

“Sometimes, Frank, an unforeseen incident, a 
chance, an exterior influence, may bring on a dis- 
astrous crisis. It has unfortunately been so in my 
case,” she said, in a deep, earnest voice. 

“ Begin at the beginning. Let me know what is 
this strange mystery which has shadowed your life,” 
I urged, taking her hand in mine. 

“ Hush ! we must not be overheard,” she replied, 
glancing apprehensively at the door. “I — I fully 


GUILTY BONDS. 


278 

recognize how painful all these complications must 
have been to you, dear, but I assure you it is not 
my fault that I have not divulged. I had taken an 
oath ” 

“ An oath ! ” 

Yes. I know it was purely from love that you 
married me, enveloped in mystery as I was ; and, 
then, when you saw me in the Dene, and — and — 
thought me untrue — ah — you surely should have 
known me better than that. You know how I love 
you ; and yet you suspected me ! ” she cried pas- 
'^ionately. 

“ Don’t let’s talk of that,” I said, impatiently. 

When I have told you,” she continued, her eyes 
filling with tears, “you will no longer believe me 
\alse, even though I — your wife — have stained my 
\ands with crime ! ” 

“What ! ” I cried, in amazement, “ you ! ” 

“Ah, no,” she answered, “ and yet mine is a 
lorrible crime. Listen ! Years ago, when I was a 
ittle child, my father. Count Nicholas, heldarespon- 
uble position at the Court of the Czar at Petersburg. 
His closest friend was Sergius Orselska — the man 
you know as Hertzen — his half-brother. His son, 
Demetrius, and I were playmates.” 

“ But what of Boris. The man who gave evidence 
/day?” 

“He is my brother. When the Russo-Turkish 


GUILTY BONDS. 


279 

war broke out, my father, who was an officer, was 
placed in command of a troop, Boris having in the 
meantime joined the Cossacks. The Count served 
with distinction throughout the campaign ; but, alas ! 
after the fall of Plevna, he received news that my 
brother had been killed in an engagement with some 
insurgents in Georgia. 

"‘Overcome with sorrow, my father retired from 
the army, and took me to live in a gloomy old 
house in the Njazlov at Warsaw. While we were 
leading a somewhat secluded existence the revolu- 
tionary movement sprang up in Poland ; the people 
commenced their struggle for freedom, and the pro- 
paganda took root with alarming rapidity. My 
father, a loyal subject of the Czar, believed that his 
warmest friend. Serge Orselska, held views similar 
to his own, but, as I afterwards discovered, he was 
mistaken. This half-brother was a scheming scoun- 
drel, who having allied himself with the Terrorists, 
determined upon making it a lucrative business by 
becoming a police spy, so that he could give secret 
information regarding the conspirators. In this he 
had more than one object in view. My father had 
occasion to travel to Petersburg on business con- 
nected with his estate, and remained there several 
weeks. On the day following his return to Warsaw 
the grand coup was made, and the Czar was as- 
sassinated by a bomb thrown at his sleigh. The 


28 o 


GUILTY BONDS. 


world was convulsed./ My father, honest loyalist 
that he was, regarded this action of the Nihilists 
most unfavorably. 

“Yet as soon as Alexander III. had succeeded 
the dead Emperor my poor father was arrested, con- 
veyed to Petersburg, and charged with being im- 
plicated in the assassination ! Though the accusa- 
tion was utterly unfounded, the perjured evidence 
was much against him. He was found guilty, and 
condemned to Siberian hard labor for life. I was in 
Court and heard sentence pronounced. Ah! Grand 
Dieu I Shall I ever forget that day ? 

“He was despatched with a convoy of prisoners 
to Asia, but on the way endeavored to escape, and 
was shot dead. It was the new Czar who was 
responsible for my beloved father’s death ; he was 
his murderer 1 and I swore it should be avenged, 
even if my own life were sacrificed in the attempt. 
Then I went to live under the guardianship of Serge 
Orselska, who, hearing my vow, admitted that he 
was a Nihilist, and persuaded me to take the oath 
to the Executive. I did so, and, confident of suc- 
cess, swore that I would make three attempts to 
remove the Autocrat of the Russias, adding, as a 
stipulation, that if none were successful the oath 
should be removed. Thus I developed into an en- 
thusiastic and patriotic Terrorist. Bent upon aveng- 
ing my father’s wrongs, I was prepared to go to any 


GUILTY BONDS. 


281 


length, and to follow the examples of Jessy Helfman 
and Sophia Perovskaia in order to accomplish my 
object. ” 

“Fancy, you — a Nihilist ! ” I said, incredulously 
in abject astonishment. 

“Yes, and I was not idle either. The schemes of 
our Circle having matured sufficiently to allow me 
to make the first attempt, I did so. We were living 
in Petersburg at the time, and although everything 
appeared to favor me, the plot failed at the last 
moment. The police, however grew suspicious, 
and we were compelled to fly from Russia. My 
uncle — who had assumed the name ofHertzen — and 
I, travelled first to Paris, and for a couple of years 
led a wandering life, visiting nearly all the European 
capitals. I devoted to the Cause a large portion of 
the fortune left me by my father, and was looked 
upon by the members of the Circle as one who would 
probably be successful in effecting our purpose. If 
I did, I told myself it would be but a life for a life. 
I believed that a terrible victory would be obtained 
by the Party, and saw everything in a rose-colored 
light.” 

Notwithstanding the overwhelming passion which 
filled her heart, and revealed itself painfully in spite 
of her, in her face, and her voice, she tried to speak 
slowly and calmly. There was an expression of in- 
describable%uffering, too, around her mouth and in 


282 


GUILTY BONDS. 


her eyes, which told me that this chapter of her life 
she would have hidden forever, if she could. 

“Then it was during these wandering^ that we 
met } ” I said. 

“Exactly. Fate brought us together in Genoa just 
as we were arranging the second attempt. I was 
in sore need of a friend, and — why should I hesitate 
to admit it — when first we met, I loved you. But, 
cruel Fate ! mine has been a love which has almost 
brought death to you,” she faltered. 

“How.?” 

“My uncle — always a scheming villain — laid his 
plans deeply in this, as in other things. I was the 
instigator of the attempt to be made, and was at my 
wits’ ends to know how to get the instrument con- 
veyed to Petersburg. The police were keeping a 
sharp look-out, and for any of our Circle to have en- 
tened Russia would have been highly dangerous. 
Notwithstanding this, I was determined to succeed. 
Meanwhile our affection was not unnoticed by Or- 
selska, who spoke to me upon the subject. Remem- 
ber, he was my guardian, and, not being of age, I 
was bound to obey him in a certain measure. When 
I admitted that I loved you and that you had asked 
me to be your wife, he flew into a passion, and said 
he would never give his consent. For several days 
he was harsh and unkind, when suddenly his man- 
ner changed and he again referred to the matter. 


GUILTY BONDS. 


283 

He said he would give his consent with one stipula- 
tion : that I should, as a test of your love, get you 
to take thg instrument to Petersburg, the ” 

'‘The instrument! What do you mean?” I 
asked. 

“ I mean, that the box you took to the Russian 
capital did not contain jewels at all ; it was dynamite 
clock ! ” 

“An infernal machine I ” 

“Yes. It was that which wrecked the Winter 
Palace on the day you were arrested. But listen, 
and you will learn the depth of Orselska's villainy. 
Already by his treachery my poor father had been 
degraded and killed, and the fortune left to me was 
in his hands. He was determined to keep it, and 
there were but two ways of doing this : either I, too, 
must be killed, or marry his son Demetrius. Now 
you see why he schemed that you should be sent 
upon that dangerous errand. You were sent, Frank 
dear, so that on your arrival he, as a police spy, 
could give information which would secure your ar- 
arrest and exile ! ” 

“Impossible!”! cried. “Yet the explosion ac- 
counts for the excitement on the night of my arrest.” 

“It is true, every word,” my wife asserted. 

“I was arrested, nevertheless.” 

“Yes, and it was with difficulty that we planned 
your escape. Partisans of Czaricide, those assisting 


284 


GUILTY BONDS. 


in the struggle of freedom, however, are to be found 
in every class of society in my downtrodden country. 
The military and prison officials are no exception. 
My brother Boris, who was not — after all — dead, had 
allied himself with the Nihilists from the same motives 
as myself, and chanced to be the officer in command 
of the escort ordered to take your convoy to Siberia. 
Two of the prison warders were members of my 
Circle. Your trial was avoided by the judicious 
exercise of stratagem. When you changed clothes 
with the dead convict you ceased to exist in the eyes 
of the law, and your subsequent escape, due mainly 
to the exertions of Boris, was rendered easy.” 

“Why did you remain silent so long after my re- 
turn to England ? ” 

She gazed upon me with loving eyes, and ran her 
fingers tenderly through my hair as she replied, — 
“Because I strove to forget you. I was ashamed 
at the deceit I had been compelled to practise, and 
felt that you could never forgive me sufficiently to 
again have confidence in me.” 

“But I have done so, Vera.” 

“Yes, that is why I am so happy — or — or rather, 
I shall be happy,” she replied, endeavoring to smile. 

“Finish your story, and we shall no longer be 
alienated. ” 

“ My confession is unpleasant, nay, horrible, but 
I must continue it,” she sighed. “After your escape 


GUIL TV BONDS. 285 

from Russia my uncle, from some inexplicable cause, 
turned against me, and I had but one friend, Deme- 
trius. As the playmate of my youth who had been 
absent many years, he renewed his acquaintanceship 
with a kindness and tenderness that caused me to 
suspect his intentions. My surmise proved correct. 
He asked me to marry him ; and I, having in a 
manner pledged myself to you, refused." 

“ And what did he do ? ” 

“It made but little difference. We were none the 
less friends ; for even though the father is a vile 
schemer, the son is not." 

“You refused him because you loved me so well ?” 

“Yes, dear, I did," she replied. 

Then she bent, and our lips met. 


t 


286 


GUILTY BONDS. 


CHAPTER XXXIV. 

A STRANGE DISCLOSURE. 

The door opened, and Boris Seroff stood before 
us. 

Little introduction was necessary. We grasped 
each other's hands. 

‘ ‘ My brother ! The man of whom you were 
jealous," laughed Vera, as she nervously twisted the 
ribbons of her wrap around her hand. 

“Well," said Boris, heartily, “Tm pleased we 
are relatives, and that we have at last met. The 
mystery you have so long tried to solve can now be 
cleared up." 

“ I have just been relating my history," said Vera, 
niavely. 

“Then I will explain something of mine, although 
it is a story not enticing to tell," Boris exclaimed, a 
shadow of pain crossing his face. 

“Let me know all!" I urged, impatiently. 
“What I have already heard has almost bewildered 
me ; I can scarcely realize its truth. " 

He twirled his mustache and appeared to be lost 


OUIL TV BONDS. 287 

in thought for a few moments. Then he said : 
“First, let me make a confession. Like my sister, 
I am — or rather was — a member of a Nihilist Circle. 
I joined from the same motive of revenge that 
prompted Vera, and perhaps she has explained how 
you unwittingly assisted us in our attempt ; how, by 
the treachery of Hertzen, you were arrested ; and 
how by our exertions you escaped.” 

“Yes,” I replied. 

^ ‘ But you do not know all. You remember find- 
ing the seal in your Cell .? ” 

“ Ah — the seal ! ” I cried, excitedly, for the men- 
tion of it brought back terrible memories. “What 
was its meaning ? ” I demanded. 

“By the merest accident you directed my atten- 
tion to the hieroglyphics on the wall, and the dis- 
covery threw a light upon a phase of the mystery 
that had hitherto been unintelligible. That cell, I 
found, was the same in which my father was con- 
fined before his exile, and it was he who cut that 
emblem in the stone, with his initials linked with 
those of the villain who plotted his destruction.” 

“And that villain was ” 

“The man you know as Hertzen. Having ob- 
tained control of my sister’s fortune, he schemed 
to entangle her so that he might be instrumental in 
securing her exile to the mines, and eventually ap- 
propriate the money for his own use. He was un- 


28S 


GUILTY BONDS. 


aware, however, that my wound in Georgia had not 
proved fatal. By concealing my identity I contrived 
to assist Vera and yourself.” 

“ But the seal ! Tell me ; what is its meaning?” 
I asked, in breathless suspense. 

“It is the death symbol. The Nihilist law de- 
mands that those who accidentally discover our 
secret, and refuse to take the oath, must die by the 
hand of the person from whose lips they learn it. 
To ensure absolute secrecy, so essential in a coun- 
try like Russia teeming with police spies, the Execu- 
tive devised a seal to be affixed to the body of the 
murdered person, thus showing members of our 
Cause the reason of the crime and deterring them 
from betraying us. ” 

“So the seal, about which there has been so 
much controversy, is a Nihilist emblem,” I said, be- 
wildered. 

“Purely. For the most part the persons upon 
whose bodies the seal has been discovered are those 
whom it was found necessary to remove for the 
preservation of our secret. In some cases where we 
have been betrayed by members of our Circle, lots 
have been cast among us, the deed has been com- 
mitted, and the lips of the traitor silenced forever. 
The crimes have been regarded as the work of a 
maniac. You will understand that it was to our in- 
terest to make them appear so, ” he replied, calmly. 


GUILTY BONDS. 


289 

“What is the meaning- of those strange symbols 
around the seal which have been the cause of so 
much comment ? I asked, eagerly, for this extraor- 
dinary revelation was even more mystifying than 
the secrets. 

Taking from his breast-pocket a paper upon which 
was an impression of the seal, sitnilar to that found 
on the victims, he said, — 

“See, the centre, which has proved so puzzling 
to many, is a representation of the hammer of Thor, 
the god of thunder. It is symbolical of strength, 
work, and duty. By the Scandinavians Thor was 
supposed to be the guardian genius, and representa- 
tions of his hammer were believed to be charms 
against every terror. In that sense the organization 
has used it. The legend, of which antiquarians 
have failed to discover the key, is an obsolete Norse 
rune, the words being, ‘ Bith Sithi Gast,’ the equiv- 
alent in English to ‘ Halt ! accursed enemy ! ’ It 
is indeed the Seal of Death.” 

“ Does no one outside the Nihilist Circle know its 
significance?” I asked, in wonder. 

“Not a soul. Remember Vefa and I are now 
no longer members of the organization. Our 
oaths are removed, therefore I am able to tell you 
this.” 

“ Happily our conspiracy against the Autocrat 
has been unsuccessful,” broke in Vera, smiling. 

19 


290 


GUILTY BONDS. 


“We are not Russians now, but content to be loyal 
subjects of your Queen/’ 

“ I’m pleased that is so,” I replied, with a sigh of 
relief; “but there is still one circumstance unex- 
plained.” 

“To which do you allude.?” Boris asked, plung- 
ing his hands into his pockets and leaning against 
the table opposite me. 

I was loth to approach a subject which must be 
exceedingly painful to him. 

“I mean the murder — the tragedy in Bedford 
Place ” 

“Ah!” he cried, sorrowfully, passing his hand 
quickly across his forehead, “the remembrance of 
that terrible night — the white face of my poor dead 
wife constantly haunts me. But the scoundrel who 
killed her shall suffer his well-merited punishment,” 
he added, as he paced the room angrily, muttering 
some imprecations in Russian. 

“Boris dear, calm yourself,” said Vera, persua- 
sively, clutching him by the arm. “Tell Frank 
everything ; he has a right to know. ” 

“Yes, he has, ’^replied her brother, turning sud- 
denly towards me. “From the first I knew by 
whose hand she died, but was unable to act. You 
will understand, when I say that the villain was a 
member of our Circle, and that it was believed my 
wife was removed because she had accidentally dis- 


GUILTY BONDS. 


291 


covered that an attempt was to be made at the Win- 
ter Palace. Such, however, was the report to the 
Executive, and the murder was looked upon as a 
commendable precaution.” 

“Did not the Circle know it was your wife.?” 

“No, I had kept my marriage a secret. The 
murderer was ignorant of our relationship, otherwise 
he would not have dared to commit the crime and 
report it to the Executive.” 

“Then you are absolutely certain as to his iden- 
tity ? ” I said, breathlessly. 

“Yes. At first I could not discover the motive, 
but since the confession of the servant it is plain 
he wished to obtain possession of the money, and 
placed the fatal emblem upon her in order to de- 
ceive us and secure our aid in concealing his guilt.” 

“ You have given the police his name ! ” ex- 
claimed Vera, anxiously, “quick! tell us who 
he is.” 

“What!” I ejaculated, in surprise, “are you, 
too, in ignorance of the real culprit ? ” 

“ Quite ; Boris has refused to disclose his identity,” 
she said, quietly, in a tone of annoyance. 

“No,” replied the Russian, bitterly. “There 
will be time enough when the police have hunted 
him down. Hitherto I have been powerless. I 
dare not denounce him lest he should divulge my 
connection with the plots, the inevitable result of 


292 


GUILTY BONDS. 


which would have been my exile to the mines. 
Now, however, I fear nothing. He has destroyed 
the only one I loved, and shall suffer the penalty ! 
he added, fiercely. 

“But why not tell us.?” I argued. “Surely we 
may know upon whom rests the guilt ? ” 

“Let the matter remain at present,” he said, 
petulantly. “ When the time arrives I shall be pre- 
pared to prove that which will send him to the gal- 
lows. Not only did he take my wife’s life, but he 
also committed a second murder in order to hide the 
first ” 

“ Another ! ” I cried. 

“Yes. Since my poor wife’s maid, Jane May- 
grove, returned from Australia and made her con- 
fession, I have discovered something even more 
strange. It seems that Jane had a sister Nell, very 
similar in feature, and previous to her departure 
abroad she told this sister all that had happened at 
Bedford Place on the fatal night. Needless to say, 
Nell traced the murderer and made excellent use of 
her information, inasmuch as she levied blackmail 
upon him to a considerable extent, he, of course, 
believing her to be the witness of his crime. She 
had married a man named Grey, and the pair lived 
upon the money she succeeded in extorting from 
the murderer. For some time this went on, until 
one night she was discovered in a court off Drury 


GUILTY BONDS. 


293 


Lane, stabbed in the neck, and with the seal upon 
her ” 

“Why, that was the woman who was murdered 
on the night following my return from Russia ! ” I 
remarked, in amazement. 

“That is so. Here is her photograph,” and he 
handed me a faded carte-de-visite, which he took 
from his pocket. 

It was similar to that which had been given me by 
the man who had died in the garret. 

“ Jane Maygrove,” he continued, “is none other 
than the wife of your club-friend. Rivers.” 

“Tod Rivers’s wife } ” I repeated, incredulously. 

He replied in the affirmative, adding, “ Does not 
that account for his consternation when you pro- 
duced a photograph of her twin sister ? He be- 
lieved it to be that of his own wife.” 

“How do you know all this.?” I asked, my 
interest in the solution of this extraordinary problem 
increasing more than ever. 

“On the day you left Elveham, after discovering 
Vera and myself in the Dene, you came to London, 
and outside the Junior Garrick you were met by an 
old man named Grey, the husband of Nell May- 
grove, were you not?” 

“ That’s true,” I admitted. “ But how came you 
aware of this ? ” 

“Simply because I followed you,” he replied, 


GUILTY BONDS. 


294 

laughing. “I had an object in doing so ; it was in 
your own interest, as you will know later. ” 

“How could your espionage affect me?” I 
asked, with a sudden feeling of resentnient at having 
been “shadowed.” 

“You shall know very soon. On the day to 
which I refer, you went to Grey’s room. He told 
you, before he died, how he discovered his murdered 
wife, and how he had taken the seal from her breast. 
Do you remember ? ” 

“Yes.” 

“Your conversation was overheard by the sister 
of the dead woman, who, until then, was unaware 
that the significant sign had been found upon her, 
she being abroad at the time the accounts were 
published in the newspapers. When she heard 
Grey’s declaration she at once knew that the man 
who had killed her sister was the murderer of my 
wife. Prompted by revenge, she determined to 
track the villain, and bring him to justice, even at 
the risk of being prosecuted for theft herself. It 
was in consequence of this that she materially 
assisted us by giving evidence in your favor 
to-day. ” 

“To her, to Vera, and to yourself, I owe my 
present liberty,” I exclaimed deeply moved. “ I am 
indeed grateful to you all for your efforts. ” 

“You have little to thank me for, dear,” said 


GUILTY BONDS. 


295 

Vera tenderly. ‘‘Fate seemed against me in every- 
thing I did.” 

“I understand how you must have suffered, 
dearest, and how circumstances precluded you from 
telling me the truth. You did your best, and in 
future I shall trust you implicitly,” I said, while her 
arm stole gently around my neck, and she looked 
lovingly into my eyes. 

Wringing Boris’s hand heartily, I expressed my 
gratitude to him, adding, “There is one thing need- 
ful to completely solve the enigma — the name of the 
man who committed the crimes.” 

“When I gave the police the information I 
promised I would not divulge until they made the 
arrest; otherwise I would tell you,” he replied, 
with a tantalizing smile. 

“Do tell us! We must know the whole truth 
now,” urged Vera earnestly. 

“ His name — but — hark ! — what’s that .? ” he ejac- 
ulated, with bated breath. 

We listened. It was the sound of hurrying foot- 
steps in the corridor. 

“I must see Mrs. Burgoyne at once. Do you 
hear ? Quick ! Tell me ; which is her room ? ” a 
voice shouted excitedly. 

“It’s here ! first on the left, sir,” was the reply. 

A second later the door was flung open without 
warning. 


296 


GUILTY BONDS. 


CHAPTER XXXV. 

THE VANTAGE-GROUND OF TRUTH. 

Demetrius burst abruptly into the room. 

His wild appearance startled us. His face was 
pale and haggard ; his eyes bloodshot, his collar 
torn, and his coat rent at the shoulder. 

He stopped suddenly, stepping back a few paces 
when he saw Vera was not alone. 

“Why, good Heavens! What's the matter.?”! 
exclaimed, in utter astonishment ; for he and I had 
been the closest friends. 

“Matter ! Diable / You should know ! ” he cried, 
his foreign accent being more pronounced in his 
excitement. 

“No. What is it.?” asked Vera, who had risen 
and was standing close to him. “Are you mad.?” 

“Yes, imbecile — if you like,” he shouted hoarsely. 
Pointing to Boris, he added, his face distorted by a 
look of intense hatred, “That traitor is the cause ! 
He has set the police upon me., They have fol- 
lowed me and are hunting me down. But they 
shall not arrest me — Sacr ^ — at least not yet I ” 


I 


GUILTY BONDS. 


297 

“Come; enough of this!” commanded Boris, 
sternly, advancing and clutching him by the 
shoulder. 

“ Hands off, you devil I ” he cried fiercely, shak- 
ing himself free. “Listen, first, to what I have to 
say 1 ” 

“ Now, it’s useless to struggle,” Boris declared 
firmly. “ I shall detain you here and send for the 
police.” 

“ No you won’t. Curse you I They are follow- 
ing me now. They saw me enter the hotel. Hark I 
they’re on the stairs. But I have something — some- 
thing to say.” 

There was a sly, crafty look in his distended 
eyes. 

“Well; what is it?’' Tasked, at the same time 
glancing at Vera, and noting that her delicate face 
was firm-set and pale. 

“You — you robbed me of her, and, by Heaven, 
some satisfaction is’ due to me. I demand it — do 
you understand ? ” he screamed with an imprecation, 
addressing me. 

“It is I who protected my sister, and assisted her 
to evade the clutches of a heartless villain — the man 
who murdered my wife ! ” interposed Boris, infuri- 
ated, emphasizing his words with a foreign oath. 

“ Is it this man ? ” I demanded, bewildered. 

“Yes,” he answered, angrily. “This is the 


298 GUILTY BONDS. 

scoundrel who murdered two defenceless women.” 
Turning towards him, he added quickly, Ah ! 
Demetrius Orselska, the revenge I have so long 
sought is now near at hand.” 

“It is — it is,” hissed the other. “But, ma foi! if 
you think I will be trapped, you are mistaken ! ” he 
laughed harshly. “ No — you, Frank Burgoyne — 
you English cur ! — you took Vera from me. Though 
she is your wife, you shall no longer enjoy her 
beauty. Dieu ! you shan’t ! ” 

I saw him plunge his hand nervously into his 
pocket, but had not the slightest idea of his inten- 
tion. 

As I turned to look at Vera she covered her 
blanched face with her hands, screaming, — “Look, 
Frank — he has a pistol ! ” 

His movements were of lightning-like rapidity. 
Before I could wrest the weapon from his murderous 
grasp he had levelled it at her. 

There was a flash — a loud report — and a puff of 
smoke curled between us. 

For a second I feared to glance at her, but when 
I lifted my eyes, it was with joy I saw that the 
bullet had sped harmlessly past, shattering a great 
mirror at the opposite end of the room. 

Shrieking wildly and hysterically, she staggered 
fainting to a chair, while Boris and I struggled with 
the murderer to obtain possession of the weapon. 


GUILTY BONDS. 


299 

‘‘ Stand back ! he shouted, his dark flashing 
eyes starting from their sockets, and his even row of 
white teeth prominently displayed. “Touch me, 
and ni blow your brains out! S acre I I warn 
you ! ’’ 

The mad excitement seemed to have filled him 
with fiendish strength, and by an agile movement 
he again freed himself. 

With a muttered oath he advanced several steps 
towards the spot where Vera was sitting, now ren- 
dered utterly unconscious by the sudden shock. 

I saw his intention. I detected the terrible ex- 
pression of revenge that passed over his features ; 
and sprang towards him. 

Another second, and I should have been too late. 

The muzzle of the revolver was again pointed at 
her ; his finger was upon the trigger, nevertheless 
as he pulled it I knocked his arm upwards. 

The weapon discharged, but the bullet imbedded 
itself in the ceiling. 

I had saved Vera’s life I 

At this moATient there were loud shouts in the 
corridor, and a few seconds later a police inspector, 
accompanied by two detectives and several waiters, 
dashed into the room. 

“ Demetrius Orselska, we have a warrant for your 
arrest for murder 1 ” announced the officer, sharply, 
and turning to his men, added, “ arrest him ! ” 


300 


GUILTY BONDS. 


Like some hunted animal who is brought to bay, 
the scoundrel glanced quickly around for means of 
escape, but finding none, turned and faced them. 

A moment’s reflection had decided him 

“You — you shall not take me,” he hissed. “ I — 
I confess I am guilty of the crimes — but — Diahle ! I 
will take my own life, and — and you can take my 
body if it’s any use — you can can do what you like 
with that, you bloodhounds ! ” 

Before the detectives could obey the orders of the 
inspector, he had placed the revolver to his fore- 
head. 

The plated barrel flashed in the light only for an 
instant — then there was a loud explosion. 

The officers recoiled, startled by its suddenness : 
for it all took place so rapidly that for the moment 
they apparently did not comprehend his intention. 

As the pistol fell from the unhappy man’s grasp he 
uttered a loud moan, staggered, and then wheeled 
slowly round, as if on a pivot. His blood-shot eyes 
caught sight of Boris, and frightful convulsions of 
every feature proclaimed his terror. He did not 
utter another cry but fell forward to the floor where 
he quivered for a few moments in death agony. 

It was an awful tableau ; the last act of a terrible 
game that had for its stakes riches, or the grave. 

Boris, with livid face, was resting his right hand 
against the wall, while he pressed his left to his 


GUILTY BONDS. 


301 

breast as if to stay the beating of his heart. He 
watched the dying struggles of his wife’s murderer, 
seeming fascinated by the frightful spectacle. 

There was an awful silence. 

Amid this terrible scene Vera regained conscious- 
ness. Struggling to her feet she walked with uneven 
steps towards us. All at once her face assumed a 
look of inexpressible horror, as she gazed down 
upon the body of the murderer, and gradually real- 
ized the truth. 

“ It is he ! And he tried to kill me ! It all seems 
like some horrible dream,” she gasped, clutching 
my arm and uttering a low cry of horror. 

“ Come ; Vera,” I whispered, softly, “ the mys- 
tery is solved. The guilty one has received the 
wages of his sin.” 

She did not reply, but, with a deep-drawn sigh, as 
if a great weight had been lifted from her mind, she 
leaned heavily upon my arm and left the chamber 
of death. 

Boris followed. 

His thirst for vengeance had been satisfied. 


302 


GUILTY BONDS. 


CONCLUSION. 

A SULTRY autumn day had passed ; the freshening 
twilight had faded, and the moon and evening star 
were in the sky as Vera and I sat together on the 
terrace at Elveham. Already the lights of the village 
began to twinkle in the distance ; the tops of the 
trees in the Dene were gleaming in the moonlight 
like a silver sea, a night bird warbled sweetly, and 
the little brook babbled on with lulling music. 

My heart drank in the tranquillity of the scene, 
as in the listlessness of after dinner I smoked the 
sleep-inviting cigar. 

A month had elapsed since the tragic denouement o{ 
the strange drama, but Vera’s nerves had been so 
unstrung that I had scarcely referred to the terrible 
occurrence since. 

We had just dined with Boris and Bob Nugent, 
who had arrived as our guests that day. During 
the meal Vera had spoken of the scene at the hotel 
— not without some hesitation, however — and now 
we were alone she again alluded to it. 

‘‘Do you remember, Frank, it was on a similar 


GUILTY BONDS. 


303 


night to this, that you saw, over there in the Dene, 
what your jealous eyes distorted into a meeting of 
lovers ? 

“Yes, dearest; I do remember it. Boris being 
the man I saw leave the house in Bedford Place, I 
believed him to be the murderer,” I replied. 

“ Boris ; the murderer ! cried my wife in surprise, 
“ Ah ! I understand, dear, what agony of mind such 
a discovery must have caused you. It was all my 
fault— everything,’' she added, with regret. 

“The mystification was not intentional, Vera,” I 
said, tenderly, encircling her slim waist with my 
arm. “But do not let us speak of it again. ’ 

“Frank,” she exclaimed suddenly, as she placed 
her hand upon my shoulder tenderly, looking into 
my eyes, “Boris has yet something to tell you. 
Ah ! here they come ; you must hear it now.” 

My two guests had emerged from the dining- 
room and were strolling leisurely towards us in full 
enjoyment of their goddess Nicotine. 

My wife called them, and they came and seated 
themselves beside us. 

“Now, Boris,” she said, “we have all met, and 
you can explain to Frank that complication you 
did not acquaint him with on the night of his acquit- 
tal.” 

“ What more can there be ? ” I asked, in unfeigned 
astonishment. 


304 


GUILTY BONDS. 


“Simply this: The villain meant to kill you!” 
Boris replied, calmly. 

“To kill me?” 

“Yes. You remember discovering portions of a 
seal upon your writing-table ? ” 

“Perfectly. It was on the morning I left for 
London.'’ 

“Exactly. Had you remained here, you would 
have been murdered, and the seal, which was in 
readiness, affixed upon you. When you left, he 
followed, his purpose being to kill you when a fit- 
ting opportunity presented itself. Luckily events 
so conspired as to frustrate his evil design.” 

“Is this really true?” I exclaimed, in amaze- 
ment. 

“Yes. You will now understand why I shadowed 
you so closely. It was in order that no harm should 
befall you.” 

“But my arrest ” I said, utterly bewildered 

at this fresh feature the mystery presented — a plot 
against my own life. 

“The villain suddenly altered his tactics, pre- 
sumably because he would be running too great a 
risk by killing you. He therefore returned here, 
placed the seals and other articles among your pos- 
sessions, and afterwards gave information to the 
police which led to your committal.” 

“What could have been the motive of all this?” 


GUILTY BONDS. 


305 

I asked, my astonishment increasing at such reve- 
lations. “We were friends; I had done him no 
wrong.’" 

“The motive was a sufficiently strong one ; that 
of obtaining your fortune.” 

“How?” 

“ Cannot you see the depths of the plot ? He was 
aware you had made a will leaving everything to 
Vera, therefore, if you died, she would possess the 
estate. In that case he hoped to marry her, and 
failing this, his father could give information which 
would secure her conviction and exile as one im- 
plicated in the attempts against the Czar. In either 
case he would obtain the money. You were the 
only obstacle, and when once removed, all would 
have been easy.” 

“ By fortuitous circumstances he did not succeed,” 
Vera said, kissing me fondly. 

“No. He was a clever rogue, I can assure you. 
But he was unaware that I was in England watch- 
ing his movements,” remarked Boris. 

* ^ What of his father ? ” I asked. 

“He also has obtained what he richly deserves. 
Having been detected in assisting in the manu- 
facture of bombs in Zurich, immediately on hio 
return after giving evidence against you, he ^/as 
convicted and sentenced to ten years’ imprison- 
ment.” 


3o6 


GUILTY BONDS. 


“ Serve the old scoundrel right ! ” declared Bob, 
in a tone of satisfaction. “ It seems to me, Frank, 
old fellow, you owe your life to our newly-discovered 
friend.” 

“Yes, that is true,” I admitted. “It is a debt I 
can never repay. ” 

“Don’t talk of it,” said Boris, tossing away his 
cigar-end. “ My only desire has been to secure the 
happiness of my sister and yourself.” 

“There is nothing to fear in that respect,” I said, 
laughing. “The dark clouds and terrible ordeals 
that overshadowed the first few months after our 
marriage have now passed, and brighter days, full 
of hope and enjoyment, have dawned. Our future 
lives will be devoid of sorrow, and there shall be no 
element of mistrust again to part us.” 

“Frank, old chap,” cried Bob, enthusiastically, 
“I congratulate you on the recommencement 
of your honeymoon with all my heart. You 
and Mrs. Burgoyne certainly deserve every hap- 
piness after the severe trials you have both under- 



hands gripped with 


the same hearty clasp as in days gone by. 

While I had been speaking my wife had taken 
a little spray of stephanotis from her breast and 
with loving hands pinned it in the lapel of my 
coat. 


GUILTY BONDS. 


307 


\s I kissed her passionately, she assured me, with 
a rippling laugh: “There shall be nothing want- 
ing on my part to ensure perfect felicity, for I think, 
dearest, you can now place implicit trust in the 
woman who once was Vera Seroff, Nihilist.” 


THE END. 




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